First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $69.94 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2%, owning 121,343 shares valued at $69.94 million after purchasing more shares in the last quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed that CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares for approximately $11.94 million, while insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares worth around $46.56 million, indicating significant activity among company executives.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $7.14, surpassing estimates and showing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,343 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 16,907 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $69,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms 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 current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $737.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $658.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total transaction of $364,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,716,347. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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.