Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $466.63 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sarasin & Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 632,208 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,807 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $466,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CSS LLC IL grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 2,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider owned 30,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,682,229.20. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,371,837.64. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 257,922 shares of company stock worth $196,412,792 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $780.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $745.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $664.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be 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 is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

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.