Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Sells 219 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,190 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $733.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $744.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $686.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 213,146 shares of company stock valued at $164,196,453 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $880.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $829.66.

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.