Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Smith Anglin Financial LLC

Key Points

• Smith Anglin Financial LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 15.5%, owning 5,640 shares worth approximately $4.16 million after selling 1,035 shares in the second quarter.
• Meta reported $7.14 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, and saw a 21.6% increase in year-over-year revenue to $47.52 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.3%, with a low payout ratio of 7.60%.

Smith Anglin Financial LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,640 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,035 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $710.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $753.21 and a 200-day moving average of $675.45. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-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. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue 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 Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $748.72, for a total transaction of $387,088.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,026 shares in the company, valued at $7,506,666.72. This trade represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director owned 8,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,371,837.64. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,955,168. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $880.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.02.

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.

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.