Synovus Financial Corp Sells 493 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8%, selling 493 shares, and ending the quarter with a total of 64,166 shares valued at approximately $36.98 million.
• Meta Platforms reported stronger than expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $7.14, significantly surpassing analyst estimates of $5.75, alongside revenues of $47.52 billion.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Meta, with current institutional ownership at 79.91% of the company's stock.

Synovus Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,166 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 493 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $23,749,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $754.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.27. 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 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $730.31 and its 200 day moving average is $657.36.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%.Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Roth Capital raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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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