Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 104,946 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,265 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $76,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.6% during the second quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,577,000 after buying an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc grew its position in Meta Platforms by 33.6% during the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. William John Sempolinski purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $3,107,000. Sone Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 38.2% in the second quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,046,000 after buying an additional 4,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.7% in the second quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP now owns 115,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,333,000 after acquiring an additional 45,130 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total value of $605,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,600. This trade represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,515 shares of company stock valued at $102,183,520. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $614.99 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $779.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $670.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $632.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $885.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $833.12.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta settled a teen lawsuit alleging that Instagram and Facebook contributed to addiction, depression and eating disorders. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement removes Meta from an upcoming Los Angeles trial and reduces near-term litigation uncertainty. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising fundamentals remain strong: recent coverage cited higher ad pricing, rising impressions, improved AI-driven ad conversions and strong engagement. Analysts also see meaningful upside, with one fair-value estimate raised from $813.65 to $848.38 per share. Meta fair value report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, including a $1 billion equity investment and multi-generation chip co-design for Meta’s AI data centers. The deal may improve access to computing capacity and supplier diversification. AMD and Meta partnership report

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.