Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Cut by First Financial Bankshares Inc

Key Points

• First Financial Bankshares Inc reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 1.5%, now holding 77,959 shares valued at approximately $44.93 million.
• Meta Platforms' shares experienced a 1.7% decline, opening at $738.70, with a market cap of $1.86 trillion.
• Following analysts' upgrades, Meta's consensus target price has risen to $822.41, with many firms rating the stock as a "Moderate Buy."

First Financial Bankshares Inc lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,959 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,164 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $1,162,918,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $3.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $735.11. 9,294,340 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,485,708. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $737.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $658.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. 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 fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, 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 have sold 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,716,347 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from 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.