Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 84,957 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,066,508 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 84,957 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Meta Platforms worth $2,290,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in 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 worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 823,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $616.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $596.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $609.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $790.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $595.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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