Baskin Financial Services Inc. Has $27.92 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Baskin Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 3.8% during Q2, now owning 37,825 shares valued at approximately $27.92 million.
• Meta recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 7.60%.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Meta, with an average target of $830.68, indicating strong bullish sentiment towards the stock.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,825 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.1% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Myecfo LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the second quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 1,378 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total transaction of $12,192,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,933,323 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $716.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm's 50-day moving average is $746.75 and its 200-day moving average is $683.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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