Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.2% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $33,000. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 433.3% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $666.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $740.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $695.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Oppenheimer cut shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $827.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 198,335 shares of company stock worth $153,047,009. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.