Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Lee Financial Co

Key Points

• Lee Financial Co reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.3% in Q1, now holding 1,471 shares valued at approximately $848,000.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analyst estimates of $5.75, and experienced a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Meta has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with a yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 7.60%.

Lee Financial Co lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,471 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 524 shares during the quarter. Lee Financial Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $23,749,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $751.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year 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. The business's fifty day moving average price is $726.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $656.42.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value 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 approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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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