Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Buys 1,374 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,414 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.2% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the second quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.3% during the second quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the second quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 25,677 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,952,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SilverOak Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.6% in the second quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total transaction of $372,912.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 8,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,113,017.50. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total transaction of $382,176.03. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,275 shares in the company, valued at $20,820,861.75. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,665 shares of company stock worth $164,581,886 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $738.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $742.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $692.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued 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 was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $925.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five 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.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.