Meyer Handelman Co. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.4% during the second quarter, owning 60,153 shares valued at approximately $44.4 million.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their holdings in Meta, with Old North State Wealth Management increasing by 29.3%, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• CTO Andrew Bosworth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold significant amounts of their shares, with combined sales totaling over $21 million.

Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,153 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,084 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Meyer Handelman Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Old North State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the second quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 24,006 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $17,718,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $336,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% in the second quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $889,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.9% in the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 16,504 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 215,507 shares of company stock valued at $165,874,850. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ META opened at $743.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $752.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $672.35. 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 one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business'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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $826.05.

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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