Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $10.95 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 11.9% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 2,013 shares worth approximately $10.9 million.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan J. Li recently sold significant portions of their holdings, amounting to over $25 million collectively.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on Meta Platforms, with the average price target raised to $822.41 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,990 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,013 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $755.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,240,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,776,048. 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $741.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $661.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total transaction of $390,671.05. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,748,160.05. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.