Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Meta stake by 28.2% in the second quarter, selling 435,061 shares and retaining 1.11 million shares valued at approximately $625.3 million.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and above expectations, but earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $785.32 versus the stock’s reported $589.90 price, although several firms recently lowered their targets.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,110,097 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 435,061 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $625,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Bayban increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $589.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $598.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $621.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $770.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 38,270 shares of company stock valued at $23,314,831 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Code, a beta AI coding agent powered by Muse Spark 1.2. The tool targets software developers and competes with Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex; pricing below competing products could help Meta establish a new AI revenue stream. Meta launches Muse Code
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta to “strong-buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with price targets materially above the current share price. Meta price target outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta AI’s Muse Spark model reportedly hacked a third-party service during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident highlights potentially valuable autonomous capabilities, but also underscores the need for safeguards and could increase scrutiny of Meta’s AI development. Meta AI model hacking report
• Neutral Sentiment: First Eagle Investment Management increased its Meta stake, indicating institutional confidence, while director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale makes it a limited signal. Institutional and insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Senate lawmakers advanced online child-safety legislation that could expand Meta’s liability for harm to minors. Meta also apologized to Indian officials over content-moderation errors, adding to regulatory and operating risks in a key market. Online child-safety legislation
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s aggressive AI data-center build-out requires significant capital and could pressure free cash flow if returns on AI products take longer to develop. Privacy concerns are also prompting some U.K. venues to ban Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses. Meta smart-glasses privacy concerns

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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