Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the sale, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,697,760.59. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.00, for a total transaction of $325,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,237 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,836. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 75,798 shares of company stock valued at $58,347,026. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $621.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $726.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $702.51.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 is 9.28%.

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.