Sanders Morris Harris LLC Sells 4,002 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 78.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,076 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,002 shares during the quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Myecfo LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kooman & Associates lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $648.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $738.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $696.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year 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. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Zacks Research raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $827.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders 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.

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.