Appaloosa LP Purchases 60,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Appaloosa LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.2% during the first quarter, owning 550,000 shares valued at approximately $317 million, making it the fund's 5th largest holding.
• Insider selling was notable, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg and insider Christopher K. Cox selling shares worth a combined total of over $58 million within recent transactions.
• The stock received several target price increases from analysts, with estimates now ranging from $875 to $920, reflecting a positive outlook despite a recent stock decline of 0.5%.

Appaloosa LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.8% of Appaloosa LP's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Appaloosa LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $316,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,745 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. 14B Captial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. 14B Captial Management LP now owns 16,400 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,452,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 3G Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.7% in the first quarter. 3G Capital Partners LP now owns 85,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $48,991,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,132,035 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,228,820,000 after purchasing an additional 43,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the first quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,146 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total transaction of $364,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,877 shares in the company, valued at $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 312,341 shares of company stock worth $234,443,690. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $752.45. 9,655,823 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,390,477. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $738.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

About Meta Platforms

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.