Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Boosted by Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 833,848 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 55,136 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $469,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 777,021 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $437,688,000 after acquiring an additional 73,049 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.4% during the second quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 47,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,287 shares in the last quarter. Ducere Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 46.7% during the second quarter. Ducere Wealth Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.0% in the second quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 7,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,447,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.32.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement ends a high-profile trial and reduces legal uncertainty. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of states alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed or misled young users. Investors appear to prefer a defined cost over the possibility of much larger damages or an adverse trial ruling. The payout is substantial but reportedly equivalent to only several months of Meta’s profits. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Restrictions are less disruptive than a fundamental business overhaul. The agreement requires measures including two-hour daily limits for teenage users, overnight blocking, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, parental tools and stronger age verification. However, Meta is not required to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising, preserving the core of its advertising model. Associated Press settlement report
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Meta’s advertising and AI potential. A bullish analysis points to improving ad-ranking algorithms, rising ad impressions and pricing, strong network effects and Meta’s AA- credit rating. Evercore ISI also sees possible future revenue from excess AI-computing capacity as Meta expands its data-center infrastructure. These catalysts compete with concerns that the stock has declined in recent months and remains below its longer-term moving averages. Invezz AI infrastructure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates meaningful financial and regulatory costs. The maximum payment could reach $18 billion, while usage limits may reduce teen engagement and potentially weaken future advertising data and impressions. Reports also question whether Meta’s age-verification technology works reliably, and the company’s final obligations could become stricter if TikTok, YouTube and other competitors adopt similar safeguards. Meta still faces thousands of additional youth-related lawsuits. TechCrunch age-verification report

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $592.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $612.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

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.