CX Institutional Buys 4,197 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

CX Institutional boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,292 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 4,197 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of CX Institutional’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. CX Institutional’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $587.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $600.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $622.36.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding expectations, while AI-powered recommendations and ad tools are improving user engagement and monetization. Some analysts and investors view the post-earnings selloff as an attractive entry point because the core advertising business remains strong. META Q2 Deep Dive: AI Investment Drives Engagement as Margins Face Pressure
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentaries argue that Meta’s large AI investment could support longer-term growth rather than represent wasteful spending. Optimistic analysts point to the company’s scale, advertising cash flow and potential for AI to strengthen recommendations, ad targeting and new products. 28% Revenue Growth Ignored: Why Panic-Selling Meta Stock Over Infrastructure Spend Is a Mistake
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is scheduled to participate in White House discussions with other leading AI companies about voluntary safety testing for advanced models following concerns about rogue AI agents. The meeting could improve regulatory relations, although it also highlights growing oversight risks for Meta’s AI initiatives. Meta, Anthropic, Google, OpenAI to Meet With Trump White House
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about the scale and duration of Meta’s AI infrastructure commitments. Meta and other Big Tech companies have roughly $1.09 trillion in future payments under data-center leases, increasing fixed obligations before the spending generates returns. Meta also missed quarterly EPS expectations and issued revenue guidance below consensus, raising concerns about margin pressure and execution. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 37,770 shares of company stock valued at $23,034,051 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.