Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Sold by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 86,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 60,742 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Gradient Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $62,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,948,486,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and set an $865 price target, implying roughly 20% upside from recent levels. The firm’s view supports the case that Meta’s AI investments can drive future growth. TD Cowen rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse AI assistant launched on iPad shortly after its mobile debut and has topped app-download charts. Sustained adoption could create a new consumer platform and improve the long-term payoff from Meta’s AI spending. Meta Muse launches on iPad
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Sierra are developing the Personal Agent Protocol with partners including Shopify, Stripe, Walmart and Genesys. An open standard for AI agents to transact with businesses could expand Meta’s role in AI commerce and customer interactions. Meta and Sierra AI agent protocol
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo recently raised its price target to $1,000 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing enthusiasm around the Muse product cycle. A broad analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy.” Wells Fargo raises Meta price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is collaborating with AMD, Broadcom, Microsoft and Arista Networks on open, high-density Ethernet infrastructure. The effort may improve AI data-center flexibility, but it also underscores the scale of capital spending required. AI infrastructure collaboration
• Neutral Sentiment: Manus raised more than $500 million after Meta unwound its proposed acquisition of the Chinese AI startup. The financing gives Manus independence but highlights that Meta no longer controls a potentially valuable AI asset. Manus funding after Meta exit
• Negative Sentiment: Florida’s attorney general is seeking restrictions on users under 14 and wants a court to limit features such as Instagram and Facebook’s infinite scroll. Potential product restrictions, compliance costs and reduced engagement pose risks to advertising revenue. Florida legal action against Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta and other hyperscalers are burning cash on AI data centers before returns are proven. Meta’s AI strategy primarily depends on monetizing its own apps rather than selling cloud capacity externally, increasing execution risk. AI infrastructure cash-flow analysis
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares through a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. While the transactions are not necessarily a warning, insider selling can modestly weigh on sentiment. Meta insider sale filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Arete Research boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $795.00 to $750.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. President Capital raised Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $791.86.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $9.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $712.04. The stock had a trading volume of 7,786,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,428,604. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $634.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $618.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This trade represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.08, for a total value of $688,763.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,735,814.24. This represents a 10.72% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,222 shares of company stock valued at $101,033,627. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.