Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Penobscot Investment Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.8%, now owning 16,196 shares valued at approximately $11.95 million, making it the firm's 24th largest position.
• Insiders at Meta have sold significant amounts of stock recently, including Jennifer Newstead, who sold 519 shares for over $372,000, reducing her ownership by 1.74%.
• Analysts are optimistic about Meta's stock, with several raising price targets, resulting in a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $830.68.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,196 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 30.8% in the second quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,711 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the second quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 4,615 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,407,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the second quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 3,519 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,597,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the second quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 9,143 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,748,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yoder Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.3% in the second quarter. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,675 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total transaction of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,016,834.74. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director owned 8,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,371,837.64. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $705.30 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $752.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $679.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms 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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