Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Sold by Provident Investment Management Inc.

Provident Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,669 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.1% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second 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 boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $7,230,426,000 after acquiring an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,964,745,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $614.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $670.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $632.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS 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 business had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $875.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. New Street Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,000.00 to $995.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% 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. Insiders sold a total of 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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 Profile

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.