River Road Asset Management LLC Has $97.69 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24,780.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 173,418 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 172,721 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $97,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Bayban grew its position in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target 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 assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $545.83 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $593.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $615.87. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm’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, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the United States, an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through prompts. The rollout could expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem and generate new engagement opportunities. Meta brings Pocket to US users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also introduced a Mac version of Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-context capabilities. Separately, an analyst argued that the company’s substantial AI investments could unlock significant future revenue, supporting the long-term growth case. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney disclosed stock sales totaling roughly $10.3 million. Each transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a discretionary signal of management’s outlook, although the clustered sales may draw investor attention. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: A federal trial involving California and 28 other states is intensifying. Former Meta employee Arturo Béjar testified that certain safety tools were “designed to fail,” reinforcing allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately made addictive and that risks to young users were inadequately addressed. A loss could bring large penalties, mandated product changes and potential pressure on engagement and advertising monetization. Former employee testifies about Meta safety tools
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that elevated AI infrastructure spending could weigh on second-half free cash flow, particularly after Meta’s recent earnings-per-share miss. The legal case, which some reports associate with potential liabilities reaching hundreds of billions of dollars or more, adds substantial downside risk to a stock already trading below its longer-term moving averages. Meta trial adds risk to stock

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.