GFS Advisors LLC Sells 8,208 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• GFS Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 41.2%, selling 8,208 shares during the second quarter and now holds 11,703 shares valued at approximately $8.6 million.
• Institutional investors control 79.91% of Meta's shares, with notable transactions including a massive increase of 608,429.2% in holdings by Kingstone Capital Partners and several other funds purchasing significant stakes.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 0.3% and indicating a 7.60% dividend payout ratio.

GFS Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,703 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 8,208 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Amundi boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $571,086,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $5,697,760.59. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total transaction of $368,796.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,414,353.28. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 213,146 shares of company stock worth $164,196,453 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Truist Financial set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $732.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $746.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $686.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued 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 yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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