Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 1,186 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 553 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Watchman Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% 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 41,581 shares of company stock worth $24,506,695 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research reports. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Four research 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 MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Meta from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from $640 to $820, citing the company’s frontier AI models and AI-agent opportunity as potential growth drivers beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse AI agent gained significant early traction, reportedly reaching the No. 2 position among U.S. apps. Its free and paid subscription tiers could create a recurring revenue stream and help monetize Meta’s substantial AI investments. Meta’s AI agent Muse reaches No. 2 app ranking
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. The dividend adds to shareholder returns and signals confidence in cash generation. Meta announces quarterly cash dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors remain divided over whether Muse can become a material financial catalyst. Dedicated computing, security and inference costs could pressure margins before subscription revenue scales, while Meta continues to commit heavily to AI infrastructure.
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta for Anthropic. The departure raises concerns about Meta’s ability to retain high-value technical talent amid intensifying competition for AI researchers. Top AI researcher leaves Meta for Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed privacy and regulatory scrutiny as Muse can access sensitive information and perform actions across third-party applications. Reports of fraudulent cryptocurrency advertisements and related lawsuits add to reputational and legal risks.
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $3.3 million in two transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although scheduled sales are less concerning, the sizable reduction in his direct holdings may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $644.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $600.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. 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 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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 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 analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Meta Platforms

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.