Markel Group Inc. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,281 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Markel Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $206,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $402,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,533,150. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,798 shares of company stock worth $58,347,026. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $621.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $726.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $702.51.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.