Dodge & Cox Sells 286,323 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 7.5%, now owning approximately 3.52 million shares valued at $2.03 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have been optimistic, with firms like Wedbush and Roth Capital raising their price targets, resulting in a consensus target of $822.41 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity includes a sale by Director Robert M. Kimmitt of 465 shares for approximately $364,708, representing a 4.98% decrease in his ownership.

Dodge & Cox cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,524,514 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 286,323 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox owned 0.14% of Meta Platforms worth $2,031,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 752 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,618,139. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $6.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $747.38. The stock had a trading volume of 7,986,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,077,465. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $732.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $657.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms 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.