Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 3,185,263 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 7.5%, selling 3,185,263 shares, and now owns approximately 39.1 million shares, making it the 5th biggest holding in their portfolio.
• Multiple research firms have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Bank of America setting a new target of $900.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings, with $7.14 EPS exceeding analysts' expectations, and a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 21.6%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,132,171 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,185,263 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.54% of Meta Platforms worth $22,554,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Bank of America boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,946 shares in the company, valued at $25,533,150. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $739.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $728.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $657.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

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.

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