Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,275 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 868 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Amundi boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $571,086,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $827.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.00, for a total transaction of $390,807.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,900,268. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total value of $333,391.05. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 121,456 shares of company stock worth $93,504,754 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of META opened at $637.71 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $735.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $700.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 39.35%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.