NatWest Group plc Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• NatWest Group plc has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.4%, holding 25,647 shares valued at approximately $14.78 million.
• Various institutional investors are actively buying and selling shares of Meta, with institutional ownership now at 79.91%.
• Meta's stock has recently received multiple upgrades from analysts, with a majority rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $822.41.

NatWest Group plc lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,647 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,043 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 4.4% of NatWest Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. NatWest Group plc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $752.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,655,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,390,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $738.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $659.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total value of $364,708.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 312,341 shares of company stock worth $234,443,690. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.