934 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD

Key Points

• Perryman Financial Advisory increased its Meta Platforms position by 11.2% in the third quarter, acquiring 934 shares and bringing its holdings to 9,279 shares valued at approximately $6.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 79.91%, with major investors including Auto Owners Insurance, State Street, Bank of America, UBS Asset Management and Amundi increasing their stakes.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth but missed quarterly EPS estimates; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $808.88, while investors continue to weigh AI spending and regulatory risks.

Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,279 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 934 shares during the quarter. Perryman Financial Advisory Inc. AD's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $709.33 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $655.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $626.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $728.10, for a total transaction of $688,782.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,932 shares in the company, valued at $5,047,189.20. This trade represents a 12.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,331 shares of company stock valued at $101,233,569. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. President Capital raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citic Securities dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $796.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $808.88.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Meta to exceed third-quarter revenue expectations, forecasting $63.8 billion versus a $63.3 billion consensus estimate, and maintained a Buy rating with an $810 price target. Meta expected to beat revenue forecasts as AI boosts advertising, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released the open-weight Muse Spark model for coding and AI-agent tasks, while its collaboration with Apple enables developers to run the model locally on high-end Mac computers. The developments could broaden adoption of Meta’s AI technology and reduce reliance on cloud infrastructure. Meta releases open-weight Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $920 price target, implying substantial upside, while other analysts including KeyCorp and Rosenblatt also maintained positive ratings. JPMorgan reaffirms Meta rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to report third-quarter results on October 21. Investors will focus on advertising growth, user metrics, profitability, capital expenditures, and management’s outlook for AI infrastructure spending. Meta Q3 earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta withdrew $25 million from a previously announced $65 million effort to support political candidates considered favorable to the AI industry. The move may reduce near-term spending but signals a change in its political strategy. Meta Withdraws $25 Million from Its Midterms Push
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst-related pressure is weighing on the stock after Goldman Sachs lowered its expectations and Meta was reported down following an analyst downgrade, countering the more bullish JPMorgan view. Meta stock price down on analyst downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that AI infrastructure spending could reach approximately $205 billion in 2027. Heavy capital expenditures are reducing free cash flow, while potential legal charges and regulatory scrutiny add to earnings risk. Meta AI spending could hit $205 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Seven U.S. senators are questioning Meta’s claim of $6.6 billion in research tax credits for AI data centers, creating potential tax liability and reputational risk. Senators question Meta AI data-center tax credits

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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