Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 128,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 8,007 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.5% of Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $95,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,923 shares of company stock worth $26,126,437. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of META opened at $636.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $691.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $823.93.

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.