Comerica Bank Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 1.6%, retaining 429,015 shares valued at approximately $247.27 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Meta, with notable growth from Freedom Investment Management Inc. and ICONIQ Capital LLC.
• Meta's recent quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $7.14 EPS against a consensus of $5.75, alongside significant revenue growth of 21.6% year-over-year.

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 429,015 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,913 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of Comerica Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Comerica Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $247,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $11,527,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,922 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,295,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.3% in the first quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 11,135 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 6,342 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the first quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 1,297 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $754.79 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $656.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $400,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,128 shares in the company, valued at $10,174,200. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,533,150. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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