Challenger Wealth Management Purchases 337 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Challenger Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 39.4% during the first quarter, now holding 1,193 shares valued at $688,000.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly boosted its position in Meta by an astonishing 67,172.9%, owning over 23 million shares worth approximately $13.5 billion.
• Meta Platforms reported stronger-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $7.14 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and achieving a revenue of $47.52 billion.

Challenger Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 39.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,193 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Challenger Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after buying an additional 1,470,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $13.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $751.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,675,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,808,190. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $739.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $660.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $376,923.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,173,185. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were 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 owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 282,244 shares of company stock valued at $213,336,095. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.