Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by WD Rutherford LLC

WD Rutherford LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,086 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of WD Rutherford LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $727.05 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $753.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $673.93. The company has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.02.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,955,168. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.