Columbia Asset Management Sells 15 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Columbia Asset Management trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 619 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,787,329,000 after acquiring an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.61.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,146 shares of company stock worth $164,209,720 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $713.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $753.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $677.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.