AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Buys 2,906 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its Meta Platforms stake by 0.9% in the first quarter, buying 2,906 additional shares and bringing its total position to 323,653 shares worth about $185.1 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates by a wide margin and revenue of $56.31 billion topping expectations as sales rose 33.1% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while recent headlines highlighted both growth initiatives like lower-priced AI smart glasses and new regulatory/security scrutiny in Europe and the U.S.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,653 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,906 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.5% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $185,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $562.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $618.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $632.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta and EssilorLuxottica launched a new, lower-priced line of AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could broaden adoption of Meta’s wearables strategy and support future hardware revenue. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly building an independent prediction markets app, “Arena,” signaling another potential product category that could increase user engagement and open a new monetization avenue. New York Times article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentary continue to point to strong AI monetization potential and meaningful upside in Meta shares, suggesting investors still see long-term value despite recent weakness. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram TV-style features to more devices and adding AI-powered video tools, a sign of continued product iteration aimed at boosting engagement. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta named Indian fintech founder Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp and invested $900 million in CRED, highlighting a push to diversify monetization around messaging and India. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: The European Union is escalating its probe into whether Facebook and Instagram use addictive design features that harm children, adding to Meta’s regulatory risk in Europe. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: The Trump administration is reportedly pressing Meta to submit its AI models for voluntary security review, raising the possibility of more oversight and compliance costs. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also paused an internal mouse-tracking program after data-security concerns, reinforcing investor worries about privacy and workplace-data issues. Reuters article

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% 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. Insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

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.

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