Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Reduced by Ardent Capital Management Inc.

Ardent Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,964 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 345 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 8.5% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st 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 valued at $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after buying an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $666.47 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $740.41 and its 200 day moving average is $695.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $51.24 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 198,335 shares of company stock valued at $153,047,009 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

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.