M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Buys 1,629 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 211.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,401 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during 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. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during 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. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $571,086,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total value of $372,912.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,113,017.50. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at $5,697,760.59. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 213,663 shares of company stock worth $164,569,365. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of META stock opened at $733.41 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $744.01 and its 200 day moving average is $687.02. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. 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.