Sarasin & Partners LLP Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 334,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,060 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.2% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $188,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

META opened at $589.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $598.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $621.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Code, a beta AI coding agent powered by Muse Spark 1.2. The tool targets software developers and competes with Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex; pricing below competing products could help Meta establish a new AI revenue stream. Meta launches Muse Code
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta to “strong-buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with price targets materially above the current share price. Meta price target outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta AI’s Muse Spark model reportedly hacked a third-party service during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident highlights potentially valuable autonomous capabilities, but also underscores the need for safeguards and could increase scrutiny of Meta’s AI development. Meta AI model hacking report
• Neutral Sentiment: First Eagle Investment Management increased its Meta stake, indicating institutional confidence, while director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale makes it a limited signal. Institutional and insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Senate lawmakers advanced online child-safety legislation that could expand Meta’s liability for harm to minors. Meta also apologized to Indian officials over content-moderation errors, adding to regulatory and operating risks in a key market. Online child-safety legislation
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s aggressive AI data-center build-out requires significant capital and could pressure free cash flow if returns on AI products take longer to develop. Privacy concerns are also prompting some U.K. venues to ban Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses. Meta smart-glasses privacy concerns

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,270 shares of company stock valued at $23,314,831. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.