J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 19.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 88,364 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 21,537 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $50,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.45.
Meta Platforms News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title
Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.8%
Meta Platforms stock opened at $646.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $603.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $627.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm’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 approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Meta Platforms Profile
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.
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