Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 20%, holding 18,000 shares after selling 4,500 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership of Meta Platforms remains high, with hedge funds and institutional investors owning 79.91% of the stock; notable shifts include GAMMA Investing LLC's significant increase of over 67,000% in shares.
• Meta Platforms recently reported a strong earnings quarter with an earnings per share of $7.14, outperforming market expectations and witnessing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,398,025 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $12.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $738.70. The company had a trading volume of 9,057,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,275,794. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, 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 quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $735.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $657.95.

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, 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 firm 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 company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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.