Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.4%, holding 7,185 shares valued at $5.30 million, making it the firm's 23rd largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Meta Platforms, with recent price targets ranging from $740 to $900 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Meta Platforms recently reported earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding expectations, along with a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase of $47.52 billion.

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,185 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Versant Capital Management Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.9%

META traded up $14.63 on Tuesday, hitting $779.33. 8,993,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,689,213. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $742.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $662.53.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms'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. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,674 shares of company stock valued at $197,549,274 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.