Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Alliancebernstein L.P.'s 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in Q1, owning approximately 14.4 million shares worth about $8.30 billion.
• Meta Platforms reported an EPS of $7.14 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates by $1.39, and its revenue increased by 21.6% year-over-year to $47.52 billion.
• Analyst upgrades for Meta Platforms include targets raised by Pivotal Research and others, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,392,422 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 649,066 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.0% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.57% of Meta Platforms worth $8,295,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 312,341 shares of company stock valued at $234,443,690 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $752.45. 9,655,823 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,390,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The business's fifty day moving average is $738.39 and its 200-day moving average is $659.37. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.