The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 139,263 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Meta stake by 4.6%, selling 139,263 shares and retaining 2.88 million shares valued at approximately $1.62 billion. Institutional investors collectively own about 79.9% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $787.86; individual targets range from $700 to $875.
• Meta shares opened at $726.91 after a 1.6% decline, while insiders sold roughly $103 million of stock over the prior three months under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year, but earnings per share missed estimates.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,878,365 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 139,263 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.11% of Meta Platforms worth $1,621,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Watchman Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the first quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citic Securities lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $787.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 151,882 shares of company stock worth $103,032,319 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $726.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $779.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $620.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $614.49. 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 posted its 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 last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its Muse AI agent to small businesses with integrations including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Slack and Dropbox. The move could diversify revenue beyond advertising and create opportunities in subscriptions, transaction fees and enterprise software. Meta expands Muse AI agent for small businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Muse as a potential multibillion-dollar growth catalyst, citing early adoption, integration across Meta’s apps and possible commercial API and subscription revenue. AI tools are also expected to improve advertising engagement and conversions. Analysts align on Meta Muse as a growth catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Strategists argue Meta could be relatively resilient if AI infrastructure spending slows because it is using AI to enhance an existing advertising business rather than relying solely on hardware sales. A reported $27 billion AI-capacity agreement with Nebius also underscores continued infrastructure investment. Nvidia AI capex and Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transactions reduced his holdings, but scheduled sales generally provide a weaker signal than discretionary insider trading. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI launched Dots, an always-on AI agent positioned against Muse, raising concerns that Meta’s newest growth story could face powerful competition from OpenAI, Google and Apple. OpenAI follows Meta into personal agents
• Negative Sentiment: Reports alleging that Muse accessed private messages without permission have created privacy and reputational concerns, although Meta disputes the claims. Investors are also monitoring heavy AI and data-center spending, a recent quarterly EPS miss, and questions over whether the investment will generate sufficient returns. Meta disputes Muse privacy claim
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg separately sold approximately $21.4 million of stock under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. While scheduled, the sale may add to short-term investor caution following the stock’s sharp rally. Mark Zuckerberg stock sale

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.

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