Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.51 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 408.4%, now owning 2,049 shares worth approximately $1.51 million.
• A significant number of institutional investors, including Kingstone Capital Partners, have increased their stakes in Meta Platforms, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock, which is owned 79.91% by these entities.
• Recent analyst reports have raised the price target for Meta Platforms, with estimates reaching up to $900, reflecting overall positive sentiment towards the company's financial performance.

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 408.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,049 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,787,329,000 after buying an additional 247,850 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 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total value of $372,912.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 8,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,113,017.50. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,697,760.59. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,951,541 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $738.36 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20. 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 simple moving average is $742.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $691.34.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

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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