Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.7%, now holding 14,909 shares valued at approximately $8.59 million.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $5.75, with revenues of $47.52 billion, a 21.6% year-over-year increase.
• META's stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of approximately $822.41.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,909 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,981 shares during the quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 59.8% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 61,847 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $35,646,000 after buying an additional 23,134 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 142.6% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,023 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264 shares during the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 1,265 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triglav Skladi D.O.O. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the first quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. now owns 115,140 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $66,361,000 after purchasing an additional 9,524 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 267,732 shares of company stock worth $199,652,003 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. 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. Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $14.3710 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $752.9990. The stock had a trading volume of 8,734,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,296,731. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $725.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $655.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 payout ratio is 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.