FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Long Beach increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 21.4%, bringing their total to 3,742 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million as of the end of the 2nd quarter.
• Meta Platforms reported strong earnings with an EPS of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its quarterly revenue reached $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% year-over-year increase.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting a 0.3% dividend yield with a low payout ratio of 7.60%.

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,742 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during 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. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after buying an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $710.56 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $753.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $675.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $748.72, for a total value of $387,088.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,506,666.72. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $741.50, for a total transaction of $384,838.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,832 shares in the company, valued at $22,120,428. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,955,168 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Roth Capital raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.02.

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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