Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 3,154 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,824 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $78,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total transaction of $367,374.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,381,832.90. The trade was a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total transaction of $368,796.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 8,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,414,353.28. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,933,323 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

META opened at $716.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $746.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $683.03.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

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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