Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Smith Salley Wealth Management

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.3% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 359 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 117,040 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $67,457,000 after buying an additional 33,445 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 801.3% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 84,599 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $48,759,000 after buying an additional 75,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,955,168 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.02.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $710.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $753.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $674.82. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.60%.

Meta Platforms 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.