Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Reduced by Meritage Portfolio Management

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.5%, owning 25,889 shares valued at approximately $19.1 million, making it the 13th largest position in their portfolio.
• A number of analysts have upgraded their price targets for Meta Platforms, with recommendations ranging from "buy" to "strong buy", indicating strong investor confidence and setting a consensus target price of $829.66.
• Meta Platforms recently reported earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding expectations, along with a year-over-year revenue growth of 21.6%, highlighting the company's robust financial performance.

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,889 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,287 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Meritage Portfolio Management's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $733.27 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The business's fifty day moving average is $744.95 and its 200-day moving average is $686.70. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total transaction of $368,796.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 8,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,414,353.28. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total value of $367,374.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,381,832.90. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,146 shares of company stock valued at $164,196,453 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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