Clarius Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Clarius Group LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,545 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,457 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of Clarius Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $752.20 and a 200-day moving average of $679.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given 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 was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total transaction of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,016,834.74. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction, the director directly owned 8,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.68.

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.