Simmons Bank Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Simmons Bank increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,612 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Simmons Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased 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 acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta’s AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta’s child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $578.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $592.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $611.14. 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 market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

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.