Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.0% in the first quarter, owning 94,888 shares valued at approximately $54.69 million, which makes it the firm's 10th largest holding.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million, while CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares worth around $14 million, indicating significant insider transactions affecting 13.61% of the stock owned by corporate insiders.
• Analysts have expressed a positive outlook for Meta, with multiple brokerages raising their target prices and maintaining ratings of "outperform" or "buy."

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,888 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of Empowered Funds LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $13.72 on Wednesday, hitting $751.98. 12,062,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,602,366. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $740.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $660.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total transaction of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,748,160.05. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 282,761 shares of company stock valued at $213,726,766 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.