Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,066,508 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 84,957 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,290,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $616.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $596.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $609.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

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.