Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 76.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,410 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,742 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings 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 valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $559.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $592.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $613.84.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.91%.
Key Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Advertising growth supports the stock. Meta’s accelerating ad business is benefiting from AI-driven recommendation tools, high user engagement and greater advertiser adoption, helping the company maintain an advantage over Reddit and Snap. META Rides on Ad Growth: Can It Stay Ahead of RDDT and SNAP?
- Positive Sentiment: AI talent and investment strengthen Meta’s long-term narrative. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz has joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, reporting to Alexandr Wang. Mark Zuckerberg has also outlined an aggressive plan to build agentic AI, potentially broadening Meta’s growth beyond online advertising. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz joins Meta's Superintelligence Labs under Alexandr Wang Mark Zuckerberg Published a 6,500-Word AI Manifesto
- Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and AI monetization potential add support. Reports of hedge-fund purchases during the second quarter and Meta’s ability to monetize AI usage through advertising are reinforcing the bullish long-term thesis. Two Legendary Investors Just Bought Meta Platforms Stock
- Neutral Sentiment: Sector rotation is also helping. Meta and Alphabet edged higher while Snap gained and Reddit declined, indicating selective buying among social-media stocks rather than a uniform sector move. Social Media Trade Splits
- Negative Sentiment: AI spending and governance risks remain overhangs. Meta’s unrestricted AI buildout requires significant investment, while reports that employee-monitoring apps shared worker data with Facebook could renew privacy and regulatory concerns. Bossware Data Shared with Facebook
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value 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. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. This trade represents a 14.52% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 37,036 shares of company stock worth $21,710,720 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
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