Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Fermata Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Fermata Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 43.1% during the second quarter, now owning 1,671 shares worth approximately $1.23 million.
• Meta Platforms' CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million, while CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares for approximately $14 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with prices ranging from $740 to $900, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Fermata Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 43.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,671 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,265 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $826.05.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 257,922 shares of company stock valued at $196,412,792 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $778.38. 22,494,703 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,174,566. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $747.06 and its 200 day moving average is $666.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.