Ariose Capital Management Ltd Makes New $42.07 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ariose Capital Management Ltd invested approximately $42.07 million in Meta Platforms, acquiring 57,000 shares, making it the largest position in its portfolio at 26.7%.
• Meta Platforms recently reported a 21.6% year-over-year increase in revenue for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $7.14, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $5.75.
• In the past ninety days, insiders sold a total of 214,182 shares of Meta, valued at $164.96 million, representing a notable decrease in their ownership stakes.

Ariose Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 57,000 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $42,071,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 26.7% of Ariose Capital Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,955,168 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $727.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $753.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $673.93. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.02.

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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