Ascent Group LLC Acquires 13,528 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, acquiring an additional 13,528 shares, bringing its total ownership to 50,879 shares, valued at approximately $29.3 million.
• Notable institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., significantly boosted their holdings in Meta Platforms during the first quarter, underscoring strong investor interest.
• Meta Platforms reported strong earnings for the last quarter, with an EPS of $7.14, surpassing analysts' expectations, and a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year, further strengthening its market position.

Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 36.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,879 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,528 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Ascent Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $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 stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in 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 worth $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $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 Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,358 shares of company stock valued at $228,847,292. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ META opened at $752.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day moving average is $738.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $658.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

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

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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