W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Has $39.40 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,385 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.9% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $609.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $716.58 and its 200 day moving average is $703.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total value of $376,923.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,173,185. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 44,421 shares of company stock worth $33,573,980 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

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.