Focus Financial Network Inc. Sells 2,205 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Focus Financial Network Inc. has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 18.4% in the second quarter, now owning 9,783 shares valued at approximately $7.22 million.
• Meta Platforms has received several analyst upgrades, with Loop Capital raising its price target from $888 to $980 and an average price target of $826.05 across analysts.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.525 will be paid on September 29th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.3%, with significant insider share sales also reported.

Focus Financial Network Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,783 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,205 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 257,922 shares of company stock worth $196,412,792. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. JMP Securities raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

META traded down $1.87 on Friday, hitting $778.38. The company had a trading volume of 22,494,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,174,566. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $747.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.