Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by West Branch Capital LLC

Key Points

• West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.1% during Q2, owning a total of 10,814 shares valued at approximately $7.98 million.
• Insiders including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth have sold significant amounts of stock, with a total of 213,663 shares sold over the last ninety days valued at $164.57 million.
• Meta Platforms reported strong earnings with an EPS of $7.14 for Q2, exceeding estimates, and set a quarterly dividend of $0.525, reflecting a 0.3% yield.

West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,814 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 719 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.4% of West Branch Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. West Branch Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 4,741 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,733,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 40.6% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accel Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.9% during the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 791 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 213,663 shares of company stock valued at $164,570,329. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $717.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $753.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $673.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.02.

About Meta Platforms

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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