Grimes & Company Inc. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,158 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,897 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Myecfo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the second quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 1,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 212,681 shares of company stock worth $163,863,761. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $715.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $750.98 and its 200-day moving average is $680.75. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’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. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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