Manchester Financial Inc. Sells 858 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Manchester Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 858 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.4% of Manchester Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Manchester Financial Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in 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 period. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,697,760.59. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 completion of 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 a total of 213,146 shares of company stock valued at $164,208,279 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $750.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $741.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $693.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 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.