Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,545,158 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 664,243 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $884,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $550.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $612.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $630.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Meta is being treated like a “bear market” stock despite its central role in the AI buildout, arguing the recent selloff is more about short-term impatience than a broken AI thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary said Meta’s AI push is driving revenue growth, stronger ad engagement, and rising user activity, supporting the case for further upside.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm’s new AI data-center push and partnerships with Meta and Microsoft reinforce Meta’s role in major AI infrastructure deals, which may support long-term growth expectations. Qualcomm stock jumps on AI data center push, Meta and Microsoft deals
• Positive Sentiment: One article framed Meta as one of the most attractive mega-cap tech names after the 2026 selloff, suggesting the stock could have meaningful recovery potential from current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly pushing Meta to explore working with prediction-market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi as part of an Arena app aimed at younger users, which could expand engagement but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg Urges Meta to Explore Working With Polymarket and Kalshi
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-sentiment commentary said Meta continues to keep users on its platforms longer, but investor sentiment remains weighed down by AI spending concerns. Ca$htag$: Is META Winning Over Consumers?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and reputational pressure after Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the company of surveilling her to silence criticism, adding to headline risk around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports continue to highlight investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending is compressing near-term cash flow, which has been a major factor behind the stock’s weakness.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

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.