Nelson Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nelson Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,852 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pachira Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Myecfo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Kooman & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $712.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $747.80 and its 200-day moving average is $682.13. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. 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 business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total value of $367,374.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,381,832.90. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total value of $368,796.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,414,353.28. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 213,717 shares of company stock valued at $164,599,932. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average 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.