EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,923 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 1.0%, now holding 187,851 shares worth approximately $108.27 million.
• Meta recently reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, alongside a revenue of $47.52 billion.
• Research analysts are optimistic about Meta's future, with several raising their target prices, including Loop Capital's new target of $980.00.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,851 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,923 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $108,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $68,875,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 121,343 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,938,000 after acquiring an additional 16,907 shares during the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 68,540 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $39,504,000 after acquiring an additional 7,325 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 755 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $100,511,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $738.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $736.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $657.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm'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 $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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,716,347 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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