Senator Investment Group LP Has $59.07 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Senator Investment Group LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 102,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,264 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.1% of Senator Investment Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Senator Investment Group LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $747.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $727.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $657.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.