Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Boosted by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 61,390.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 352,953 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 352,379 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 5.5% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $260,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 44,421 shares of company stock valued at $33,573,980 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $609.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $713.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $705.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid 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 was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

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.