Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Lowered by Maple Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Maple Capital Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter, now owning 97,233 shares valued at approximately $56 million, making it the fund's 7th largest holding.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares for over $11.9 million, while insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares, representing a significant decrease in their positions.
• Meta Platforms has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with an annualized basis yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 7.60%.

Maple Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,233 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 372 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.3% of Maple Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 752 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded up $4.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $755.59. 8,240,448 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,776,048. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $741.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $661.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total value of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 11,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,748,160.05. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 283,280 shares of company stock worth $214,119,908. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.