Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Ardmore Road Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Ardmore Road Asset Management LP has increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc., now holding 140,000 shares, which constitute about 8.0% of its portfolio, making it the second-largest position for the fund.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently sold 15,847 shares of Meta stock for approximately $11.9 million, alongside another insider who sold 60,000 shares valued at $46.6 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with the average target now at $822.41, indicating a positive outlook among analysts.

Ardmore Road Asset Management LP raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 55.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 8.0% of Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Ardmore Road Asset Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $80,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first 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. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7%

META traded down $12.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $738.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,057,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,275,794. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $735.73 and its 200-day moving average is $657.95. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.11, for a total value of $390,391.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,692.21. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,398,025 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.