Paladin Wealth LLC Sells 1,117 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Paladin Wealth reduced its Meta stake by 29.8% in the third quarter, selling 1,117 shares and retaining 2,634 shares valued at approximately $1.91 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $833.12, despite some target-price revisions.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, posting $7.40 in EPS and $64.60 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates, while revenue increased 26.1% year over year.

Paladin Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,634 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,117 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Paladin Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Paladin Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Straight Path Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.1% in the third quarter. Straight Path Wealth Management now owns 665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,781 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Orange Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.1% in the third quarter. Orange Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,436 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. China Renaissance dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $885.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $614.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $670.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $632.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.16%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta settled a teen lawsuit alleging that Instagram and Facebook contributed to addiction, depression and eating disorders. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement removes Meta from an upcoming Los Angeles trial and reduces near-term litigation uncertainty. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising fundamentals remain strong: recent coverage cited higher ad pricing, rising impressions, improved AI-driven ad conversions and strong engagement. Analysts also see meaningful upside, with one fair-value estimate raised from $813.65 to $848.38 per share. Meta fair value report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, including a $1 billion equity investment and multi-generation chip co-design for Meta’s AI data centers. The deal may improve access to computing capacity and supplier diversification. AMD and Meta partnership report

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total value of $605,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,040 shares in the company, valued at $3,225,600. This trade represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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