Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,292,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,245,384 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.4% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $953,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 752 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. IAM Advisory LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 453 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $778.38 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $747.06 and a 200-day moving average of $666.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $391,611.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,377,618.20. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total value of $398,156.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,682,229.20. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 257,405 shares of company stock valued at $196,059,438. Company 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.