Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Cypress Capital Group

Key Points

• Cypress Capital Group increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 31.5%, acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to 7,707 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a strong quarterly performance with $7.14 earnings per share and $47.52 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations and marking a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company recently paid a dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 7.60%.

Cypress Capital Group grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,707 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,691 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,453,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 137.2% in the first quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 50.2% in the first quarter. EWA LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,342,000 after acquiring an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $733.41 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $744.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $687.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 213,663 shares of company stock worth $164,569,365. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $829.66.

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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