Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Bought by James Investment Research Inc.

Key Points

• James Investment Research increased its Meta Platforms stake by 6.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 18,027 shares valued at approximately $13.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $833.12, despite some firms lowering targets. Meta’s latest quarterly results also exceeded expectations, with $7.40 in earnings per share and $64.6 billion in revenue.
• Meta’s AI expansion is attracting major investment and partnership interest, but rising capital expenditures, potential shareholder dilution, margin pressure and insider stock sales remain key risks for investors.

James Investment Research Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,027 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of James Investment Research Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. James Investment Research Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,957,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. President Capital upgraded Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $850.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Yorkville Ives began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $900.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $833.12.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta priced a $25 billion Class A common-stock offering and a $12.5 billion mandatory convertible preferred-stock offering, with proceeds earmarked for its artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The common offering reportedly attracted demand several times greater than the shares available, suggesting institutional interest in Meta’s AI strategy. Meta offering pricing
• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia plans to invest $3 billion in Meta and expand its partnership around Meta’s Muse AI assistant and models. The deal provides third-party validation for Meta’s AI ambitions and may help secure access to Nvidia hardware. Nvidia invests in Meta partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong: ad impressions increased 10% year over year, average ad prices rose 14%, and AI improvements reportedly lifted app-ad conversions by 9.6%. Early adoption of Muse and new AI experiments such as Waddle World could create future commerce and subscription revenue. Meta AI risk and reward
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta delayed indefinitely the rollout of new commercial terms after publisher objections. The move could reduce near-term conflict but leaves unresolved questions about the company’s relationship with media organizations and use of publisher content. Meta delays commercial terms
• Negative Sentiment: The major concern is dilution: Meta is pursuing nearly $98 billion in equity financing, including new common and convertible preferred securities. Investors appear worried that the funding will reduce per-share value even if it finances long-term AI growth. Meta stock analysis and dilution
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is weighing heavily on near-term financials. Capital expenditures reached $34.9 billion, producing negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion, while higher spending and legal costs pressured margins. This has led some analysts to downgrade the stock, despite revenue exceeding expectations. Meta AI spending downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $1.0 million in two transactions. Both sales were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their significance as a signal of management’s outlook. SEC insider transaction filing

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.49 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $667.08 and its 200-day moving average is $632.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,015 shares of company stock valued at $102,464,300 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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