AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 1,213 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 56.6%, owning a total of 3,355 shares worth approximately $1.93 million.
• Other institutional investors also made significant changes, including GAMMA Investing LLC, which ramped up its position by 67,172.9% during the first quarter.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenues reaching $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 56.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,355 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $754.79 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $730.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $657.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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.

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