Candriam S.C.A. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. significantly increased its stake in Meta Platforms, raising its position by 97.9% to 378,729 shares, valued at approximately $218 million.
• Meta Platforms reported strong earnings, with $7.14 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and showing a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings for Meta have been positive, with several brokerages raising their price targets, including Bank of America, which increased its target from $775 to $900.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 97.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 378,729 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 187,309 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.4% of Candriam S.C.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $218,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $23,749,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $739.10 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $728.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $657.34. The company has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $400,675.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,174,200. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.