Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by International Assets Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management increased its Meta stake 14.1% in the third quarter, adding 3,073 shares to hold 24,931 shares valued at about $18.1 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Meta has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $833.12, based on 3 Strong Buy, 47 Buy, and 7 Hold ratings.
• Meta beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $7.40 versus the $6.54 consensus and revenue of $64.6 billion; revenue rose 26.1% year over year.

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,931 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,073 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,964,745,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $885.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Yorkville Ives started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $900.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $945.00 target price (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Meta Platforms from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.15, for a total value of $580,985.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 4,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,514,330.10. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 151,090 shares of company stock valued at $103,150,807 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $630.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $673.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $632.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.16%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta acquired Conductor, a startup whose AI agents can work in parallel to build software projects. The deal adds AI coding capabilities, though financial terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch: Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor
• Positive Sentiment: Investor demand for Meta’s bond offerings was strong: reports said orders for its U.S. sale reached about $58 billion. That suggests investors are willing to finance the company’s AI expansion. Reuters: Meta draws record orders for debut euro bond sale
• Positive Sentiment: Arista Networks said Meta remains one of its customers accounting for more than 10% of revenue, highlighting Meta’s role in demand for AI data-center infrastructure. Arista Networks Cashes In on the AI Infrastructure Build
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan reported stock sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The planned nature of the transactions makes them less informative as a signal about management’s near-term outlook. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is raising billions through U.S. and euro bond sales to fund AI infrastructure and expansion. One report said the company agreed to pay 7.5% on 30-year debt, pointing to a substantial financing cost as investment spending grows. Meta Just Paid 7.5% to Borrow for 30 Years

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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