AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.4% during Q2, now holding 451,549 shares valued at approximately $333 million, making Meta its 5th largest holding.
• Meta Platforms reported a 21.6% increase in quarterly revenue to $47.52 billion and exceeded EPS estimates, showcasing strong financial performance.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting a 0.3% yield on an annualized basis.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.4% 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 451,549 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,293 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.3% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $333,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after buying an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $712.07 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $747.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $682.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total transaction of $12,192,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 213,717 shares of company stock valued at $164,599,932. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wedbush upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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