Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3%, now owning 175,409 shares worth approximately $101 million after the sale.
• Meta Platforms received several analysts' upgrades, with new price targets ranging from $700 to $900, indicating a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting a 0.3% dividend yield and a low payout ratio of 7.60%.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,409 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 9,725 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $101,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,153,000. Kamunting Street Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,527,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,922 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,295,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. ICONIQ Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 11,135 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,418,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 6,342 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,655,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $754.79 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $656.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.33, 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents 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 have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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