AlphaQuest LLC Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 92.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,117 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total value of $2,042,923.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,951,227.17. The trade was a 25.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,456 shares of company stock worth $93,504,754. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $870.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Benchmark cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of META opened at $637.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $735.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $700.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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