Ascent Group LLC Sells 594 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ascent Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 594 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Ascent Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second 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 buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first 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. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 536,160 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $752.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $678.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $352,223.55. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total value of $364,386.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,702,038.29. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.