Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,196 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,263 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth 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. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $400,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,128 shares in the company, valued at $10,174,200. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total value of $364,708.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,877 shares in the company, valued at $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $9.5140 during trading on Thursday, reaching $738.2060. 3,854,199 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,226,513. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's 50 day moving average is $727.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $657.05. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on META
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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