Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Freestone Capital Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.9%, owning 69,543 shares valued at approximately $40.1 million, making it the fund's 13th largest investment.
• Analysts forecast growth, with price targets for Meta Platforms ranging from $690.00 to $920.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the company's stock.
• Insiders, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sold significant shares valued at over $814,000, indicating potential mixed signals about future stock performance.

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,543 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 4,490 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $40,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,533,150. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $15.89 on Tuesday, reaching $751.48. The stock had a trading volume of 12,216,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,316,512. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $726.88 and a 200 day moving average of $656.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The company'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 expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.