Whitener Capital Management Inc. Buys 336 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.1%, acquiring an additional 336 shares, bringing their total to 5,047 shares valued at approximately $3.73 million.
• Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and insider Christopher K. Cox sold significant amounts of stock, with Zuckerberg selling 15,847 shares and Cox selling 60,000 shares, resulting in a combined value exceeding $58 million.
• Analyst ratings for Meta Platforms remain optimistic, with numerous firms raising their price targets and the stock receiving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $826.05.

Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,047 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Whitener Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Whitener Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,093 shares of company stock valued at $185,897,260. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $880.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $755.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $748.84 and its 200 day moving average is $667.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month 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 results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm 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%.The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. 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.

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