Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Increased by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc., making it their 5th largest holding, accounting for approximately 1.0% of their total assets.
• Insider transactions reveal significant stock sales, with CFO Susan J. Li and insider Christopher K. Cox selling portions of their shares, indicating a 20.19% and 17.89% reduction in their respective holdings.
• Meta's recent earnings report surpassed expectations, posting an EPS of $7.14, significantly above the estimated $5.75, contributing to a positive outlook from analysts who have raised price targets for the stock.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,653,887 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $927,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.9% during the first quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 293,774 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $169,319,000 after purchasing an additional 33,574 shares during the period. Alexis Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $404,000. Amundi boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after buying an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. Appaloosa LP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Appaloosa LP now owns 550,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $316,998,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% during the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,745 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,735,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $3.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $752.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,655,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,390,477. 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 simple moving average of $738.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.37. 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 company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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 analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating 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 five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 312,341 shares of company stock worth $234,443,690 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.