Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Voya Investment Management LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the first quarter, making it the firm's 5th largest position with approximately $2.09 billion invested.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $1.39, with revenues of $47.52 billion, reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525, which will be paid on September 29th, representing an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,620,086 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 107,959 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.3% of Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Meta Platforms worth $2,085,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 75,532 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $43,533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,787 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 1,832 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 485 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 738 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 2,409 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

META opened at $750.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $741.05 and a 200 day moving average of $661.24.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 283,280 shares of company stock worth $214,119,908. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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