River Road Asset Management LLC Purchases 172,721 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• River Road Asset Management increased its Meta Platforms stake by 172,721 shares, bringing its holdings to 173,418 shares worth approximately $97.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta is expanding its artificial-intelligence offerings with the U.S. launch of Pocket and a new Mac version of Meta AI, but investors face concerns over rising AI infrastructure costs, potential pressure on free cash flow and ongoing legal challenges involving user safety.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.32. However, the company recently missed quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $6.18 versus the $7.19 consensus, despite 28% year-over-year revenue growth.

River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 24,780.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,418 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 172,721 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of River Road Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $97,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bayban grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the United States, an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through prompts. The rollout could expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem and generate new engagement opportunities. Meta brings Pocket to US users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also introduced a Mac version of Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-context capabilities. Separately, an analyst argued that the company’s substantial AI investments could unlock significant future revenue, supporting the long-term growth case. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney disclosed stock sales totaling roughly $10.3 million. Each transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a discretionary signal of management’s outlook, although the clustered sales may draw investor attention. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: A federal trial involving California and 28 other states is intensifying. Former Meta employee Arturo Béjar testified that certain safety tools were “designed to fail,” reinforcing allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately made addictive and that risks to young users were inadequately addressed. A loss could bring large penalties, mandated product changes and potential pressure on engagement and advertising monetization. Former employee testifies about Meta safety tools
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that elevated AI infrastructure spending could weigh on second-half free cash flow, particularly after Meta’s recent earnings-per-share miss. The legal case, which some reports associate with potential liabilities reaching hundreds of billions of dollars or more, adds substantial downside risk to a stock already trading below its longer-term moving averages. Meta trial adds risk to stock

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.0%

META opened at $545.83 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $593.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $615.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25.

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 (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

About Meta Platforms

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.

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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