Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Raised by ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Key Points

• ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, giving them a total of 5,149 shares valued at approximately $3.8 million.
• Insider transactions noted a substantial sale of shares by CFO Susan J. Li and another insider, which resulted in ownership reductions of 17.89% and 20.19%, respectively.
• Brokerages have recently raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Loop Capital setting a new target of $980.00, while the consensus target stands at $826.05.

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,149 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $13.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $765.16. 11,659,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,694,495. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $747.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24.

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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 257,405 shares of company stock valued at $196,059,438. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.