Circle Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Circle Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.3%, selling 1,280 shares and holding 16,282 shares, which now represents 0.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Meta reported $7.14 earnings per share in its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75 and achieving a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Wall Street analysts have varied opinions on Meta, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41, reflecting general optimism despite some firms lowering ratings.

Circle Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,282 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,280 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.2% of Circle Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Circle Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in 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 buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1%

NASDAQ:META traded up $15.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $754.79. 10,590,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,655,942. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $730.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $656.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were 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 was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently 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.