Senator Investment Group LP Sells 42,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Senator Investment Group cut its Meta stake by 31.4%, selling 42,000 shares in the second quarter and retaining 91,574 shares valued at approximately $51.6 million. Meta represents about 1.9% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Meta’s latest quarter showed 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, although earnings of $6.18 per share missed analysts’ $7.19 estimate. The company also faces concerns over rising AI infrastructure spending and execution risks.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $789.63, supported by optimism about the Muse AI agent and its potential commerce partnerships.

Senator Investment Group LP cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,574 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 42,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Senator Investment Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Senator Investment Group LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large 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% 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 buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,957,946,000 after buying an additional 7,732,446 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $2,948,486,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the 4th 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. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining significant consumer traction. The agent reportedly surpassed ChatGPT’s early mobile download pace and can handle tasks such as shopping, travel bookings, email and financial-related services. Investors increasingly view Muse as a potential new revenue platform rather than simply another AI feature. Wall Street expects Meta's AI agent to shape into a new revenue engine
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial partnerships strengthen the monetization case. Shopify is integrating Shop Pay checkout with Muse, while PayPal is also expected to use the agent. These deals could help Meta capture value from AI-powered commerce and create a platform for outside developers and services. Shopify Brings Shop Pay Checkout Solution to Meta's Muse AI Agent
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets. Jefferies increased its Meta price target to $875 from $710 and maintained a Buy rating, while Bank of America reaffirmed Buy with an $810 target. Analysts cited Muse’s early adoption and potential to add a new earnings stream. Jefferies Adjusts Price Target on Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: The core advertising business remains supportive. Meta’s latest reported revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, with stronger ad pricing helping offset slower impression growth. Investors are also looking ahead to additional AI announcements at Meta Connect.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure. Its planned Petal subsea cable and reported custom CPU work with Arm could improve long-term computing capacity and efficiency, but these projects require substantial capital and will not produce immediate revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and spending concerns remain. Meta’s recent EPS missed consensus despite revenue growth, while rising capital expenditures, debt and weaker cash-flow expectations could limit near-term upside after the stock’s large advance.
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon’s refusal to allow Muse shopping highlights platform friction. Meta is also testing human contractors to complete some Muse calls, raising questions about reliability, privacy, scalability and the cost of delivering the service. Meta testing a human concierge for Muse

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $51,214,020. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $736.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $609.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $610.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $770.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $640.00 to $820.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $796.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.63.

Meta Platforms Company 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.

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.