Candriam S.C.A. Sells 20,820 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 357,909 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20,820 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $264,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infusive Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $155,387,000 after acquiring an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 84,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $62,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.5% during the second quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $307,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 34,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. This trade represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.23, for a total value of $312,386.91. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 15,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,245,927.46. The trade was a 3.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,442 shares of company stock valued at $26,515,931. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Mizuho dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $594.25 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $697.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $706.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.