Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 47.6% during the first quarter, now holding 64,122 shares valued at approximately $36.96 million.
• Insiders have recently sold a total of 312,767 shares of Meta stock, with transactions including Director Robert M. Kimmitt selling 465 shares and CFO Susan J. Li selling 18,332 shares, marking significant decreases in their ownership.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.3% based on the declared payout ratio of 7.60%.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 47.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,122 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 20,674 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,962,408.64. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 312,767 shares of company stock valued at $234,618,139. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $753.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $731.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $657.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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.

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