Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,504 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $743.40 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $752.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $672.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 215,507 shares of company stock valued at $165,874,850. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.