Paragon Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Paragon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,140 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.1% of Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of 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 worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Myecfo LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the second quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kooman & Associates grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $827.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total value of $12,181,113.49. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 181,971 shares of company stock worth $140,461,589. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $648.35 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $738.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $699.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

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.