Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust Sells 23,742 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 76.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,410 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 23,742 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.32.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Advertising growth supports the stock. Meta’s accelerating ad business is benefiting from AI-driven recommendation tools, high user engagement and greater advertiser adoption, helping the company maintain an advantage over Reddit and Snap. META Rides on Ad Growth: Can It Stay Ahead of RDDT and SNAP?
• Positive Sentiment: AI talent and investment strengthen Meta’s long-term narrative. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz has joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, reporting to Alexandr Wang. Mark Zuckerberg has also outlined an aggressive plan to build agentic AI, potentially broadening Meta’s growth beyond online advertising. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz joins Meta’s Superintelligence Labs under Alexandr Wang Mark Zuckerberg Published a 6,500-Word AI Manifesto
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and AI monetization potential add support. Reports of hedge-fund purchases during the second quarter and Meta’s ability to monetize AI usage through advertising are reinforcing the bullish long-term thesis. Two Legendary Investors Just Bought Meta Platforms Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector rotation is also helping. Meta and Alphabet edged higher while Snap gained and Reddit declined, indicating selective buying among social-media stocks rather than a uniform sector move. Social Media Trade Splits
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and governance risks remain overhangs. Meta’s unrestricted AI buildout requires significant investment, while reports that employee-monitoring apps shared worker data with Facebook could renew privacy and regulatory concerns. Bossware Data Shared with Facebook

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the 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 owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% 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 sold a total of 37,036 shares of company stock valued at $21,710,720 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $559.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $592.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $613.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms Profile

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.