Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 109,133 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $80,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,184,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400,927 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,229,553,000 after acquiring an additional 536,160 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,030,399,000 after acquiring an additional 280,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $755.59 on Friday. 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 market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $741.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $661.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be 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 is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,777,167.50. This trade represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total value of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,577 shares in the company, valued at $8,748,160.05. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.