Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Acquired by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 194.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,320 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,151 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,964,745,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta settled a teen lawsuit alleging that Instagram and Facebook contributed to addiction, depression and eating disorders. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement removes Meta from an upcoming Los Angeles trial and reduces near-term litigation uncertainty. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising fundamentals remain strong: recent coverage cited higher ad pricing, rising impressions, improved AI-driven ad conversions and strong engagement. Analysts also see meaningful upside, with one fair-value estimate raised from $813.65 to $848.38 per share. Meta fair value report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, including a $1 billion equity investment and multi-generation chip co-design for Meta’s AI data centers. The deal may improve access to computing capacity and supplier diversification. AMD and Meta partnership report

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $614.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $779.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $670.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $632.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $945.00 price target (down from $995.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,015 shares of company stock valued at $102,464,300. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.