Howe & Rusling Inc. Buys 513 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,506,247.42. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,759,811. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $647.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $683.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $706.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on META. Mizuho lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $823.93.

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.