WestEnd Advisors LLC Purchases 3,618 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 5.4%, bringing its total holdings to 70,756 shares, valued at approximately $52.2 million.
• Insider Jennifer Newstead and COO Javier Olivan recently sold shares of Meta, reflecting a decrease in their respective holdings by 1.74% and 5.44%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with the average price target now at $830.68 and multiple "buy" ratings from leading investment firms.

WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,756 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of WestEnd Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. WestEnd Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $52,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,016,834.74. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total value of $368,796.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,414,353.28. This represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 213,198 shares of company stock worth $164,232,558. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $717.55 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $748.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $681.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The business'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, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.