D.B. Root & Company LLC Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

D.B. Root & Company LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,385 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,691 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,453,000 after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 14,205 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,187,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 132.8% in the 1st quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.68.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 212,681 shares of company stock worth $163,863,761 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $715.70 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $750.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $680.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business’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 research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid 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 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.