Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $355.80 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 631,802 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 46,678 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.7% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $355,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 625,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $352,101,000 after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $592.39 and its 200-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 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 analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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 Company 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.