Barrett & Company Inc. Has $4.93 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Barrett & Company Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,683 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Barrett & Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.68.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total transaction of $364,386.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,702,038.29. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director owned 8,412 shares in the company, valued at $6,371,837.64. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,946,219 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.8%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $752.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $678.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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