Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 70.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,084 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second 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 period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company’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 value of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,797 shares of company stock valued at $102,180,385. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $865.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average 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 fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $650.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $623.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.