Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%
NASDAQ:META opened at $613.48 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $790.80. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $598.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 553 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Watchman Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.22.
View Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse, a personal AI agent that can interact with Facebook, Instagram and third-party applications to perform tasks such as sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. The product includes free and paid subscription tiers, offering a potential new revenue stream beyond digital advertising. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps to send emails, make payments
- Positive Sentiment: The rollout follows the release of Muse Spark 1.3, a model aimed at coding and extended agentic tasks. Investors viewed the development as evidence that Meta’s substantial AI investment could eventually generate financial returns; Bank of America reportedly continues to see meaningful upside in the stock. Meta stock jumps 4% after Muse Spark 1.3: why BofA still sees 32% upside
- Positive Sentiment: Meta and Panmnesia proposed a data-center architecture designed to connect computing resources more tightly for extremely large AI models. The initiative supports Meta’s strategy of building extensive AI infrastructure and could improve long-term computing efficiency. One Chip, One Datacenter: Meta and Panmnesia Extend Tight Coupling Beyond the Rack with CXL
- Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors remain divided over Meta’s large AI infrastructure spending, reportedly including a potential $130 billion capital-expenditure commitment. Strong advertising growth and user monetization support the investment case, but the scale of spending raises execution and return-on-investment concerns. Wall Street Keeps Asking How Much Meta Will Spend
- Negative Sentiment: Muse increases Meta’s exposure to privacy, security and consumer-trust concerns because it can access sensitive information and act across other applications. Reports noted internal concerns about potential misuse or mishandling of personal data, which could increase regulatory and reputational risks. Meta pushes into personal AI agents as company faces public reckoning over privacy and safety
- Negative Sentiment: Meta faces continuing legal pressure, including a reported lawsuit alleging facial-recognition data was used to train smart-glasses systems. Separately, the company’s chief accounting officer sold 3,240 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; the planned nature of the sale reduces its significance, but insider selling may weigh modestly on sentiment.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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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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