Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 435,061 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,110,097 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 435,061 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $625,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value 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. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,270 shares of company stock valued at $23,314,831. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $589.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $598.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $621.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.