QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, adding 5,911 shares to bring its total to 304,917 shares valued at about $201.3 million.
• Meta continues to attract strong institutional interest, with major holders like Vanguard and State Street also increasing positions; overall, institutions and hedge funds own 79.91% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive after Meta’s latest results, which beat expectations on both earnings and revenue; the company reported $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average target price of $840.31.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,917 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $201,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,823,375,000 after purchasing an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,597,374,000 after purchasing an additional 142,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s recent earnings beat and revenue growth remain a key bullish driver, reinforcing the view that ad demand and AI-driven monetization are still accelerating. Analysts highlighted stronger advertiser tools and engagement as signs the business can keep compounding. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out new privacy features for WhatsApp and AI chats, including an “incognito” mode, which could help address user trust concerns while supporting adoption of its AI products. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that WhatsApp monetization could expand through a premium subscription add another potential high-margin revenue stream, giving investors more confidence in Meta’s long-term earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Meta’s AI infrastructure spending and talent push suggests management is still investing aggressively in future growth, which some investors view as necessary to defend its competitive position. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 169,231 shares of company stock valued at $108,239,954. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $618.43 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $623.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $640.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.