Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Newly Acquired by Q Fund Management Hong Kong Ltd

Q Fund Management Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 20,170 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,627,000. Meta Platforms comprises 13.2% of Q Fund Management Hong Kong Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in Meta Platforms by 723.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full AI models are strengthening its competitive position. Muse Wonder ranked second in a 57-model accounting benchmark, ahead of OpenAI and Google models, supporting the view that Meta is narrowing the gap with leading AI developers. Muse Wonder benchmark article
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating and $810 price target, while Guggenheim raised its target to $850 and Truist maintained a bullish $1,000 target. Analysts cited Meta’s large user base, AI distribution and potential future revenue from personal AI agents. Bank of America AI outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded WhatsApp with free guest voice and video calling for non-account holders, potentially improving adoption and business utility by removing registration and download barriers. WhatsApp guest calling article
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly constructive but divided. KeyCorp and Rosenblatt reaffirmed bullish ratings with targets of $900 and $886, respectively, while Goldman Sachs cut its target from $860 to $762 but retained a Buy rating. The differing views reflect uncertainty over AI monetization and investment requirements.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs cited rising operating expenses, while other commentary warned that accelerated Meta Superintelligence Labs investment could pressure free cash flow and lead to valuation compression around the upcoming third-quarter earnings report.
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan disclosed sales totaling 1,575 shares at an average $728.10. Both transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their signaling value, but the sales still represent a notable reduction in his direct holdings.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $796.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $801.53.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $737.54 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $779.82. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $650.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $623.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’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 $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,797 shares of company stock valued at $102,180,385. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.