Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,765 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Shelton Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Myecfo LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Kooman & Associates raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $710.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $753.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $674.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,955,168. Company 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.