Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $6.30 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 5.4%, now owning approximately $6.30 million worth of shares.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Meta's stock ratings, with HSBC and Citizens Jmp both raising their price targets to $900.00.
• Insider sales were reported, including Jennifer Newstead selling 519 shares totaling over $402,000, reflecting a minor decrease in ownership.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,922 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,533,150. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total value of $364,708.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,962,408.64. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $754.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $657.36. 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 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. 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. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio 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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