Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 13,887 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 356,326 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 13,887 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.5% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $263,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.8%

NASDAQ:META opened at $705.30 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 one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $752.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $678.77. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’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. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $925.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.68.

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.