Waycross Partners LLC Buys 2,729 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Waycross Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 86,726 shares worth approximately $64 million.
• A significant portion of Meta's stock, 79.91%, is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, reflecting strong backing from the financial sector.
• Meta Platforms recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14, exceeding expectations and showing a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $47.52 billion.

Waycross Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,726 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 6.0% of Waycross Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total transaction of $399,214.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,351 shares in the company, valued at $23,345,989.20. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,371,837.64. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 230,336 shares of company stock worth $176,625,049 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $743.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $751.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $670.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Pivotal Research upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $826.05.

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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