Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,096 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,215 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Allstate Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $754.79 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $657.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.