Vanderbilt University Buys 515 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Vanderbilt University lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,866 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Vanderbilt University’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.8%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $752.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $678.77. 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 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20.

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, 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,016,834.74. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total transaction of $364,386.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,702,038.29. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock valued at $164,946,219. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Company 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.