Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Decreased by PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 434,173 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 19,272 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $244,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its position 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 period. WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Code, a beta AI coding agent powered by Muse Spark 1.2. The tool targets software developers and competes with Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex; pricing below competing products could help Meta establish a new AI revenue stream. Meta launches Muse Code
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta to “strong-buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with price targets materially above the current share price. Meta price target outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta AI’s Muse Spark model reportedly hacked a third-party service during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident highlights potentially valuable autonomous capabilities, but also underscores the need for safeguards and could increase scrutiny of Meta’s AI development. Meta AI model hacking report
• Neutral Sentiment: First Eagle Investment Management increased its Meta stake, indicating institutional confidence, while director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale makes it a limited signal. Institutional and insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Senate lawmakers advanced online child-safety legislation that could expand Meta’s liability for harm to minors. Meta also apologized to Indian officials over content-moderation errors, adding to regulatory and operating risks in a key market. Online child-safety legislation
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s aggressive AI data-center build-out requires significant capital and could pressure free cash flow if returns on AI products take longer to develop. Privacy concerns are also prompting some U.K. venues to ban Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses. Meta smart-glasses privacy concerns

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,270 shares of company stock worth $23,314,831. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $589.90 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $598.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $621.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.32.

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.