Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Westwood Wealth Management

Key Points

• Westwood Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms, acquiring 4,740 shares to reach a total of 36,480 shares, representing 9.1% of its investment portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported a significant earnings beat with $7.14 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, alongside a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $47.52 billion.
• The stock has attracted positive analyst attention, with Barclays raising its price target to $810.00 and multiple firms maintaining "overweight" ratings, indicating investor confidence in future growth.

Westwood Wealth Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,480 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 9.1% of Westwood Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Westwood Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,030,399,000 after acquiring an additional 280,357 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 313,284 shares of company stock worth $235,008,531. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:META traded up $4.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $752.07. 3,221,015 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,015,507. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $733.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $658.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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.