Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,857 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 453 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $594.25 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $697.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $706.43. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $307,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 41,442 shares of company stock valued at $26,515,931 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.