AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $211.64 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its stake in Meta Platforms by 31.1%, leaving it with 320,747 shares worth about $211.64 million, making Meta 2.5% of AEGON's portfolio and its eighth-largest holding.
• Meta beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $10.44 (vs. $6.67 est.) and revenue of $56.31 billion (up 33.1% year-over-year), supporting a bullish analyst backdrop and ongoing AI investment funding from strong cash flows.
• Positive catalysts include an expanding AI product roadmap and supplier capex signals, but Meta also faces significant headwinds from copyright suits and regulatory/litigation risks that could increase costs or constrain deployments.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,747 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 144,541 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.5% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $211,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Coquina Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $2,492,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 83,489 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,110,000 after buying an additional 30,409 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 2,122 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinion Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of META opened at $612.88 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $628.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $646.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.03 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q1 execution — analysts and coverage emphasize Meta's beat on revenue and EPS and continued ad/margin strength, underpinning investor confidence in cash flow to fund AI investment. Meta: Keep Calm And Focus On Muse, Spark, And Record Revenue Growth
• Positive Sentiment: AI product roadmap — multiple reports (FT/Reuters) say Meta is building advanced, agentic personal AI assistants and consumer-facing agents, reinforcing the company's long-term TAM for AI monetization. This helps justify heavy capex for AI infrastructure. Meta plans advanced 'agentic' AI assistant for users, FT reports
• Positive Sentiment: Capex demand signal from suppliers — a MarketBeat piece highlights Corning's $6B supply deal with Meta as part of hyperscale optical contracts, signaling durable infrastructure spend that supports Meta’s AI buildout. Light Speed Returns: Corning Cashes In on NVIDIA Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity — Meta COO Javier Olivan sold shares via a pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan (reported May 4), reducing his holdings; typical for planned programmatic selling and not an immediate red flag. SEC Filing: Javier Olivan ownership
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst moves — Mizuho trimmed its price target slightly (from $850 to $835) but kept an outperform view, reflecting continued bullishness despite higher AI spending and elevated valuation debate. Benzinga coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright suits and publisher litigation — major publishers (Elsevier, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, etc.) filed suits alleging Meta used copyrighted works to train Llama; litigation could lead to damages or costly settlements and increases model deployment risk. Major publishers sue Meta for copyright infringement over AI training
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & litigation pressure — Meta asked a judge to overturn a landmark social‑media addiction verdict and faces state actions seeking large damages; EU/Irish probes and potential orders on WhatsApp also raise compliance costs and uncertainty. Meta asks California judge to throw out landmark social media addiction verdict

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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