Equitable Trust Co. Has $18.19 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,648 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.9% of Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the second quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 32,460 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,958,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $373,000. Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 21.8% during the second quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 51,914 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,317,000 after purchasing an additional 9,294 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.9% during the second quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 19,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the second quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 69,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,612,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $738.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $742.11 and its 200 day moving average is $690.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company 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%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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. Insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,951,541 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Company 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.