Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Lowered by Eschler Asset Management LLP

Key Points

• Eschler Asset Management LLP reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 14.3%, selling 891 shares and now holding 5,355 shares valued at approximately $3.1 million.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Susan J. Li selling 18,332 shares for over $14 million and CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling 15,847 shares for nearly $12 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Meta, with upgrades from firms like Morgan Stanley and Sanford C. Bernstein, reflecting strong performance expectations.

Eschler Asset Management LLP cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,355 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 891 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 7.8% of Eschler Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Eschler Asset Management LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Estuary Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $21,844,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 48.1% during the first quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 13,604 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,420 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 239,979 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $138,315,000 after acquiring an additional 4,587 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the first quarter. Clifford Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.3% in the first quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,716,347 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reissued 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. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $737.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $737.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $659.04. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%.Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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.

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