Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Trimmed by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.5% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $751.67 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $741.86 and its 200 day moving average is $696.13. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total value of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,965,078.06. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total value of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 213,663 shares of company stock valued at $164,595,807 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $829.66.

About Meta Platforms

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.