Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 83,382 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.8% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,702,038.29. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,371,837.64. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,946,219 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of META stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $752.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $678.77.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.68.

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.