Rational Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Rational Advisors cut its Meta stake by 42.8% in the second quarter, selling 693 shares and retaining 927 shares valued at approximately $522,000.
• Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $792.68.
• Meta shares opened at $741.24 after gaining 11.3%; the company reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth but missed quarterly EPS expectations, while insiders have sold roughly $51.2 million in stock over the past 90 days.

Rational Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 42.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 927 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 693 shares during the quarter. Rational Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,013,948,000 after buying an additional 1,046,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $820.00 in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $792.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.73, for a total transaction of $622,212.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,048,234.68. This trade represents a 8.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 11.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $608.02 and a 200-day moving average of $610.09. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $785.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Meta Platforms Profile

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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