Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,245,384 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 49.1%, now holding approximately 1.4% of its portfolio values at nearly $953.8 million.
• Meta Platforms recently reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $7.14 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates by $1.39, with revenue of $47.52 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, set to be paid on September 29th, which reflects a 0.3% yield and a payout ratio of 7.60%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,292,247 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,245,384 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $953,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 257,405 shares of company stock worth $196,059,438 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three equities research 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $13.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $765.16. 11,659,363 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,828,774. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $747.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $667.24. 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 cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

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.