Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of West Tower Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. West Tower Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.37, for a total value of $382,176.03. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,820,861.75. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 213,663 shares of company stock worth $164,595,807 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $751.67 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $741.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $696.13. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The business’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

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.