ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 78,511 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,581,664 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,511 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.3% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,167,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $571,086,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $589.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $700.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $704.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 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 declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,906,323. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.