Scharf Investments LLC Has $2.71 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Scharf Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,671 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the second quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.0% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the second quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 222 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.9% in the second quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 17,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,625,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 28,699 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $21,182,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $760.66 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $750.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $668.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,610 shares of company stock worth $186,301,207 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.