Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Sawgrass Asset Management reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 17.8% in the second quarter, selling 5,151 shares and retaining 23,816 shares valued at approximately $13.4 million.
• Institutional investors own about 79.91% of Meta’s stock, while company insiders have sold 34,957 shares worth roughly $20.4 million over the past quarter, including sales by CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney.
• Despite legal and regulatory costs tied to an $18 billion youth-safety settlement, analysts remain generally bullish: Meta has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.32 versus a recent price near $576.

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,816 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,151 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in 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 worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th 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. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 34,957 shares of company stock valued at $20,442,696. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement ends a high-profile trial and reduces legal uncertainty. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of states alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed or misled young users. Investors appear to prefer a defined cost over the possibility of much larger damages or an adverse trial ruling. The payout is substantial but reportedly equivalent to only several months of Meta’s profits. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Restrictions are less disruptive than a fundamental business overhaul. The agreement requires measures including two-hour daily limits for teenage users, overnight blocking, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, parental tools and stronger age verification. However, Meta is not required to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising, preserving the core of its advertising model. Associated Press settlement report
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Meta’s advertising and AI potential. A bullish analysis points to improving ad-ranking algorithms, rising ad impressions and pricing, strong network effects and Meta’s AA- credit rating. Evercore ISI also sees possible future revenue from excess AI-computing capacity as Meta expands its data-center infrastructure. These catalysts compete with concerns that the stock has declined in recent months and remains below its longer-term moving averages. Invezz AI infrastructure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates meaningful financial and regulatory costs. The maximum payment could reach $18 billion, while usage limits may reduce teen engagement and potentially weaken future advertising data and impressions. Reports also question whether Meta’s age-verification technology works reliably, and the company’s final obligations could become stricter if TikTok, YouTube and other competitors adopt similar safeguards. Meta still faces thousands of additional youth-related lawsuits. TechCrunch age-verification report

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $592.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $612.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.32.

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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