Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• The Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 2.0%, making the company its 5th largest position with approximately $132 million in value.
• Meta Platforms reported impressive quarterly earnings of $7.14 EPS, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a 21.6% revenue growth year-over-year.
• The firm recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.3% yield, indicating a low payout ratio of 7.60% which suggests solid financial health.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 179,100 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,700 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.4% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $132,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $717.55 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $748.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $681.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total transaction of $368,796.78. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,371,837.64. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,198 shares of company stock valued at $164,232,558 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock 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 stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.68.

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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