West Family Investments Inc. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,654 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of West Family Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $648.03 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $601.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $608.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total value of $13,005,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares in the company, valued at $159,003,864.48. This trade represents a 7.56% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,581 shares of company stock worth $37,512,295. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 27th. UBS Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta’s AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.