Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,163 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 14,140 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Markel Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $131,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $578.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $592.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $611.14. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta’s AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta’s child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.