Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Tran Capital Management L.P.

Key Points

• Tran Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5%, owning 60,852 shares valued at approximately $44.9 million, making it the firm's 5th biggest position.
• Meta reported strong earnings with $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates by $1.39, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, representing an annual yield of 0.3%, set to be paid on September 29th to shareholders of record.

Tran Capital Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,852 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 945 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 5.3% of Tran Capital Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,614,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of META opened at $760.66 on Thursday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $750.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $668.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 243,610 shares of company stock worth $186,301,207. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $826.05.

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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