Sowell Financial Services LLC Has $24.60 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,327 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 8,346 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.0% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total transaction of $398,156.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,870 shares in the company, valued at $23,682,229.20. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director owned 8,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,371,837.64. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,093 shares of company stock worth $185,897,260 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

META opened at $755.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $748.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $667.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $826.05.

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.