Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0%, holding a total of 83,382 shares worth approximately $61.5 million, which makes it their fifth largest holding.
• Multiple analysts have boosted their target prices for Meta Platforms, with estimates ranging from $800 to $920, reflecting strong buy sentiments for the stock.
• Meta recently announced a **quarterly dividend** of $0.525 per share, with a yield of 0.3%, while insiders have collectively sold over $164 million of company stock in the last three months.

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,382 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.8% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.68.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% 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 valued at $164,946,219 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $705.30 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $752.20 and a 200-day moving average of $678.77. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company 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 business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 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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