Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 23,743 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.7%, selling 23,743 shares, which now represents 2.8% of their portfolio valued at approximately $276 million.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of Meta, owning 79.91% of its stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and Assenagon Asset Management.
• Multiple analyst upgrades have raised Meta's price targets significantly, with some firms projecting price targets between $822.41 and $905.00, indicating strong investor confidence in future performance.

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 478,793 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,743 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $275,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 1,846 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6%

META traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $755.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,240,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,776,048. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $741.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $661.83. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 firm's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms 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.