Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Decreased by Austin Asset Management Co Inc

Austin Asset Management Co Inc lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,054 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,787,329,000 after acquiring an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,933,323. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $716.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $746.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $683.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. 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. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target 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 issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.68.

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.