Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 3,003 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 18% in the first quarter, now owning 19,721 shares valued at approximately $11.37 million.
• Meta reported a quarterly revenue of $47.52 billion, exceeding estimates, along with earnings per share of $7.14, significantly above the consensus prediction of $5.75.
• Recent stock prices show Meta's shares trading around $752.45, with a 52-week range between $479.80 and $796.25, and analysts have set a consensus target price of $822.41.

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,721 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 280,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $752.45 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $738.39 and its 200 day moving average is $658.81. 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 company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $375,471.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,783,267.50. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total value of $364,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,962,408.64. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 304,358 shares of company stock worth $228,847,292. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on META shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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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