Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 29,098 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates increased its Meta position by 4% in the second quarter, buying 29,098 shares and bringing its holdings to 749,836 shares valued at approximately $422.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta’s AI assistant Muse is showing strong early adoption, with planned Shopify checkout integration and a raised Wells Fargo price target of $796 supporting the company’s AI growth narrative. However, Amazon’s decision to block Muse highlights privacy, security and platform-integration risks.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $792.68. The stock opened at $741.24, while recent insider sales and a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share were also reported.

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 749,836 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,098 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $422,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.8% during the second quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 8,436 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the second quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 591,169 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $333,000,000 after buying an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 93,517 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $52,707,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $4,146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,003,864.48. This represents a 7.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 81,758 shares of company stock worth $51,214,020 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $792.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $608.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $610.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $785.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

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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