Bank of Stockton Buys 23 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Bank of Stockton increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,543 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Bank of Stockton’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.3% in the first quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 662 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value 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 trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 230,336 shares of company stock worth $176,625,049. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7%

META opened at $743.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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 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 50-day moving average of $751.74 and a 200 day moving average of $670.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.