Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 636,999 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 93,666 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $364,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Castleark Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 123,965 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $70,924,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Family Manage LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Family Manage LLC now owns 26,103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,934,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Cardiff Park Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Cardiff Park Advisors LLC now owns 182,387 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $104,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 240.7% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,650,000 after purchasing an additional 14,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.74.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding the $60.2 billion consensus estimate. Advertising revenue increased 27%, ad impressions grew 14%, and average price per ad rose 12%, indicating that Meta’s core advertising business remains robust. Meta stock sinks as Q2 earnings disappoint on multiple fronts
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Reality Labs lost more than $4.6 billion, but the loss was narrower than analysts expected. The company also continues pursuing enterprise AI, including business agents for customer service and other workplace functions. Meta’s Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter
• Positive Sentiment: A $14 billion El Paso data-center venture with BlackRock will help Meta secure approximately one gigawatt of AI capacity while sharing financing and balance-sheet risk. The structure could reduce the immediate burden of Meta’s infrastructure buildout, although Meta remains the facility’s primary tenant. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain bullish: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with an $800 price target, while a Seeking Alpha analysis cited a normalized operating margin of roughly 36.8% after excluding legal and severance charges. Meta Platforms Q2: The Market Sells, I Buy The Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta forecast third-quarter revenue of $61 billion to $64 billion, broadly around but slightly below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint. No EPS outlook was provided in the reported guidance. Zuckerberg also promoted open AI development and opposed restrictions on Chinese AI models, positions that may support innovation but could attract regulatory scrutiny. Zuckerberg says Meta’s enterprise AI opportunity extends beyond agents
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS fell to $6.18, missing estimates near $7.1–$7.2 and declining from $7.14 a year earlier. Results were pressured by approximately $2.4 billion of legal costs and $1.2 billion of severance expenses. Meta misses profit expectations, sticks to massive AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend approximately $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and data-center infrastructure this year, with the minimum raised by $5 billion. Investors fear the spending will compress margins and free cash flow before a direct AI revenue stream is proven. Meta shares tumble as AI spending stuns Wall Street
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his holdings in two transactions. Because the sales were scheduled, they are a limited bearish signal but may reinforce investor caution. SEC insider transaction filing

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

META stock opened at $585.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $603.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $624.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

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.