Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 8.3% during the first quarter, holding nearly $1.08 billion worth of shares.
• Recent insider activity includes CFO Susan J. Li selling 18,332 shares, leading to a 17.89% decline in her ownership, while a total of 313,803 shares were sold by insiders in the last 90 days.
• Meta reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $7.14, surpassing analyst expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 21.6%.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,874,896 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 143,818 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,080,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clough Capital Partners L P lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 79.0% in the 1st quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P now owns 71,892 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $41,436,000 after buying an additional 31,730 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 27,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $15,836,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 15,987 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,214,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Palo Alto Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 313,286 shares of company stock valued at $235,064,596. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:META traded down $12.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $738.70. 9,057,679 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,275,794. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $735.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $657.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

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.