Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 6,142 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Highland Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.8%, selling 6,142 shares and retaining 45,904 shares, which represents approximately 1.8% of their total holdings.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' estimates of $5.75, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion, a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• Several research firms have upgraded their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Piper Sandler raising it from $808.00 to $880.00 and Loop Capital setting a new target of $980.00.

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,904 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,142 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $54,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 213,665 shares of company stock worth $164,575,272. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on META. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $705.30 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $752.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $679.78. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 is currently 7.60%.

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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