Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $66.30 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.9% during Q2, now owning 89,829 shares valued at approximately $66.3 million.
• Insider trading activity saw Jennifer Newstead and COO Javier Olivan sell shares, resulting in decreases of 1.74% and 5.16% in their positions, respectively.
• Meta Platforms recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.3% yield on an annualized basis.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,829 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,767 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in 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 valued at $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after buying an additional 247,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,016,834.74. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total transaction of $364,386.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,702,038.29. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.8%

META opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $752.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $678.77.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.