Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Nippon Life Global Investors Americas cut its Meta stake by 8% in the second quarter, selling 10,300 shares and retaining 118,620 shares valued at approximately $66.8 million. Meta represents about 2.7% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors own approximately 79.91% of Meta’s shares, while insiders sold 36,227 shares worth $21.2 million over the past 90 days, including notable sales by CTO Andrew Bosworth and CFO Susan Li under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.22. The company reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth, though quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,620 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,300 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.7% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,788,429,000 after acquiring an additional 823,883 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,227 shares of company stock valued at $21,205,509 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $653.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $599.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $608.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse agent can perform tasks across Meta and third-party applications, including sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. Free and paid tiers—reportedly priced as high as $100 per month—give investors a potential subscription revenue stream and a clearer path to monetizing AI infrastructure. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps, send emails and make payments
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said early interest in Muse has exceeded expectations, boosting confidence that the product could achieve broad adoption across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Analysts remain constructive, with KeyBanc reaffirming an Overweight rating and a $780 price target. Meta says interest in its new AI agent has exceeded expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter indicates Meta acquired Stilla.ai to advance its Business Agent initiative. If confirmed, the deal could strengthen Meta’s tools for business automation, commerce and customer interactions. Market chatter on Meta’s acquisition of Stilla.ai
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic reportedly posted a high-paying sales role aimed at Meta, highlighting Meta’s importance as a major AI customer and suggesting continued demand for advanced AI models and infrastructure. The posting was later removed. Anthropic posted and deleted a sales job targeting Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s planned data-center expansion and optical-network agreements support its long-term AI ambitions, but the associated capital spending could pressure margins before agent subscriptions and other AI products become profitable. Meta’s AI capital-spending plans
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta less than a year after reportedly receiving a billion-dollar compensation package. The departure raises concerns about retaining elite AI talent during an increasingly competitive hiring cycle. Star AI researcher leaves Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Muse’s ability to access sensitive data and act across applications increases privacy, security and regulatory risks. Meta also faces litigation over alleged crypto-scam advertising, while its chief accounting officer sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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