Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Decreased by Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC

Key Points

• Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.2%, now owning only 2,045 shares, making it the firm's 4th largest position.
• Several institutional investors have notably increased their stakes in Meta, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by a staggering 67,172.9% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with estimates now ranging from $825.00 to $897.00, indicating a strong bullish outlook on the stock.

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 95.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,045 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 40,765 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 4.5% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,716,347. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $3.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $735.11. The company had a trading volume of 9,294,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,485,708. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $736.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $657.96.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.