Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,685 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,332 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $334,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 15,302 shares in the company, valued at $9,245,927.46. This trade represents a 3.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,923 shares of company stock valued at $26,126,437. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on META. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $823.93.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $613.05 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $694.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $706.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

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.