Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Zuckerman Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Zuckerman Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.2%, holding 37,647 shares valued at approximately $21.7 million after selling 1,661 shares.
• Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta's stock, with notable recent increases in holdings from GAMMA Investing LLC and Assenagon Asset Management S.A.
• Meta reported a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $47.52 billion and an EPS of $7.14 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations significantly.

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,647 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,661 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.3% of Zuckerman Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

META stock opened at $753.30 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $731.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $657.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total transaction of $364,708.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,618,139. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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