Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management reduced its Meta stake by 3.4% in the third quarter, selling 4,854 shares and retaining 138,002 shares valued at approximately $100.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta insiders sold about $102.5 million of stock over the past three months, including sales by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CFO Susan Li under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with Meta holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $833.12. The company also exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $7.40 in EPS and $64.6 billion in revenue, up 26.1% year over year.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 138,002 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,854 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $100,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 277,550 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $201,274,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the third quarter. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC now owns 515 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 256.6% in the third quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 271 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedeker Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the third quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 21,500 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $15,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the period. Finally, Nadler Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the third quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,688 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on META shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $614.99 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $779.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $670.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $632.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.16%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta settled a teen lawsuit alleging that Instagram and Facebook contributed to addiction, depression and eating disorders. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement removes Meta from an upcoming Los Angeles trial and reduces near-term litigation uncertainty. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising fundamentals remain strong: recent coverage cited higher ad pricing, rising impressions, improved AI-driven ad conversions and strong engagement. Analysts also see meaningful upside, with one fair-value estimate raised from $813.65 to $848.38 per share. Meta fair value report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, including a $1 billion equity investment and multi-generation chip co-design for Meta’s AI data centers. The deal may improve access to computing capacity and supplier diversification. AMD and Meta partnership report

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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