Nicolet Bankshares Inc. Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Nicolet Bankshares Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.0%, owning 6,044 shares valued at approximately $3.5 million after selling 828 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider trading was notable as Meta's CTO and CFO sold significant amounts of stock on the same day, indicating a shift in their holdings.
• Meta Platforms recently reported better-than-expected earnings with a 21.6% revenue increase year-over-year, sending its shares moderately higher despite some insider selling.

Nicolet Bankshares Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,044 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 828 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.7% of Nicolet Bankshares Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Nicolet Bankshares Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,618,139. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $753.30 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $731.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $657.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 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 analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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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