Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 962 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 22,604 shares worth approximately $13 million.
• Several hedge funds also raised their positions in Meta, with significant increases reported by Csenge Advisory Group (12.0%) and Skye Global Management LP (130.9%). Overall, 79.91% of Meta's stock is owned by institutional investors.
• Meta Platforms reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with $7.14 EPS, beating expectations, and generating revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% from the previous year.

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,604 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 116,494 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $67,143,000 after buying an additional 16,845 shares during the period. Westwood Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Wealth Management now owns 36,480 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $21,026,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 487,527 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $280,991,000 after buying an additional 18,620 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,443 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,713,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,331,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,284 shares of company stock worth $235,008,531. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on META. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $4.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $752.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,221,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,015,507. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $733.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $658.54. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.