AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.4%, making it the firm’s second largest position at 5.5% of its portfolio, valued at approximately $15.77 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a significant earnings beat with an EPS of $7.14 for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $5.75, and reported revenues of $47.52 billion compared to expectations of $44.55 billion.
• Analysts have shown increased confidence in Meta Platforms, with multiple upgrades and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," alongside a rising average price target reaching $822.41.

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,359 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 5.5% of AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,618,139. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $6.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $747.38. 7,986,888 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,077,465. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock's fifty day moving average is $732.47 and its 200-day moving average is $657.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms'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, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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 issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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.