Ancora Advisors LLC Has $10.74 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 72.2% during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $10.74 million after selling 48,434 shares.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS for the most recent quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $5.75, with a substantial revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% from the previous year.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with consensus suggesting a target price of $822.41 and 39 analysts rating the stock as a Buy.

Ancora Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 72.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,632 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 48,434 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 247,850 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 312,341 shares of company stock valued at $234,443,690 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $752.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,655,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,507,611. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $738.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $658.81. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

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