Sigma Planning Corp Sells 3,232 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,147 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,232 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during 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 buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,200,469 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,013,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $736.59 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $609.53 and a 200-day moving average of $610.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $770.60.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $886.00 price objective 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $789.63.

More Meta Platforms News

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 Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total value of $13,005,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,003,864.48. The trade was a 7.56% 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. Insiders have sold 81,758 shares of company stock worth $51,214,020 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

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