Sensible Money LLC Acquires New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sensible Money LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 328 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 26,715 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $19,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the second quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the second quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 13,713 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,121,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.5% in the second quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Everest Management Corp. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the second quarter. Everest Management Corp. now owns 1,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ META opened at $627.08 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $721.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $705.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total transaction of $2,042,923.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,951,227.17. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,533,150. This represents a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,397 shares of company stock valued at $44,662,165. Corporate 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.