Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.2%, selling 46,925 shares and leaving them with approximately 309,216 shares worth $178.2 million, representing 1.6% of its total holdings.
• Meta Platforms exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $7.14 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly higher than analysts' estimates of $5.75, with a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.10 and a yield of 0.3%, with a low payout ratio of 7.60%.

Guggenheim Capital LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 309,216 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 46,925 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $178,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $754.10 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $732.47 and a 200-day moving average of $657.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $400,675.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,128 shares in the company, valued at $10,174,200. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,618,139. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.