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

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,693,204 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 62,977 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Meta Platforms worth $2,712,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after buying an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,694,644,000 after acquiring an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $677.37 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $657.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $694.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total transaction of $369,448.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,870,879. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 38,561 shares of company stock worth $23,673,584 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Big-capex boost: Meta’s plan to spend up to $135 billion in 2026 continues to be a major positive catalyst for investors who view it as funding AI, data centers and long‑term growth — the announcement previously drove a large share pop and is supporting bullish sentiment. META Pops 10% on $135b Capex Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional support: Diamond Hill Capital increased its stake, a signal that some money managers remain confident in Meta’s fundamentals and long‑run thesis. Institutional buying can underpin the stock even amid headline noise. Diamond Hill boosts stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI/data center progress & deal activity: Reporting indicates an AI/data‑center deal is advancing while related corporate developments proceed — commercially positive but still distant from immediate revenue recognition. Child safety lawsuit proceeds as AI data center deal advances
• Neutral Sentiment: Reality Labs repositioning: Meta’s CTO called cuts to Reality Labs “a real cause for sadness” but reiterated the company remains bullish on VR — suggests management is reallocating capital toward higher‑growth AI and data infrastructure. Meta CTO on Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust escalation: The European Commission has sent a statement of objections and signaled it may impose interim measures to stop Meta from blocking rival AI assistants on WhatsApp — a material regulatory risk that could weaken Meta’s AI distribution advantages in Europe and force product changes or fines. Meta has publicly criticised the move, but the threat of fast interim remedies increases near‑term uncertainty. EU threatens Meta with interim measure
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure in U.S. trials: Opening arguments began in high‑profile cases (New Mexico, LA) alleging addictive design and child‑safety failures; unsealed researcher documents alleging large numbers of exploited minors amplify reputational and litigation risk and could lead to damages or stricter regulation. These proceedings keep downside risk elevated for investors. Meta and YouTube Created ‘Digital Casinos,’ Lawyers Argue

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.