Range Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Range Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 85.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 740 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,240 shares during the quarter. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 256,921 shares of company stock valued at $195,620,990. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $779.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $743.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $663.34. 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 (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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.