Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 664,243 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 75.4% in the first quarter, buying 664,243 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,545,158 shares valued at about $884 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 topping estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, or $2.10 annualized.
• Despite solid fundamentals, the stock has faced pressure from AI spending concerns and mixed Wall Street sentiment, with analysts holding a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a price target of $840.60.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 75.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,545,158 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 664,243 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $884,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $550.25 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $612.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $630.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Meta is being treated like a “bear market” stock despite its central role in the AI buildout, arguing the recent selloff is more about short-term impatience than a broken AI thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary said Meta’s AI push is driving revenue growth, stronger ad engagement, and rising user activity, supporting the case for further upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s new AI data-center push and partnerships with Meta and Microsoft reinforce Meta’s role in major AI infrastructure deals, which may support long-term growth expectations. Qualcomm stock jumps on AI data center push, Meta and Microsoft deals
• Positive Sentiment: One article framed Meta as one of the most attractive mega-cap tech names after the 2026 selloff, suggesting the stock could have meaningful recovery potential from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly pushing Meta to explore working with prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi as part of an Arena app aimed at younger users, which could expand engagement but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg Urges Meta to Explore Working With Polymarket and Kalshi
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-sentiment commentary said Meta continues to keep users on its platforms longer, but investor sentiment remains weighed down by AI spending concerns. Ca$htag$: Is META Winning Over Consumers?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and reputational pressure after Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the company of surveilling her to silence criticism, adding to headline risk around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports continue to highlight investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending is compressing near-term cash flow, which has been a major factor behind the stock’s weakness.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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