Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Lowered by Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 56.5%, owning 5,791 shares after selling 7,513 in the first quarter, worth approximately $3,338,000.
• Meta Platforms received multiple upgraded price targets from research firms, with Goldman Sachs raising its target to $690.00 and several others increasing theirs to as high as $900.00, indicating strong investor confidence.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta stock for about $11.9 million, while other insiders collectively sold over 313,000 shares in the last 90 days, reflecting a 20.19% decrease in Christopher K. Cox's position.

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 56.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,791 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,513 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $739.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $728.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $657.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. 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 prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

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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