Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 604 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.2% of Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.3% during the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $391,611.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,377,618.20. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.16, for a total value of $398,156.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,682,229.20. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,093 shares of company stock worth $185,897,260 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $755.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $748.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $667.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $826.05.

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.