Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Point72 Europe London LLP

Point72 Europe London LLP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 137.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 166,606 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,311 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.6% of Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $96,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $1,212,000. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Benchstone Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. Benchstone Capital Management LP now owns 70,619 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,702,000 after acquiring an additional 30,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cura Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $738.70 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $735.73 and its 200-day moving average is $658.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction 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 approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,398,025. 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.