Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.2% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. River Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $324,000. 25 LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. 25 LLC now owns 607 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $3,260,000. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 162 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of META opened at $733.51 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $753.09 and a 200 day moving average of $678.22.

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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,702,038.29. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $897.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.68.

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.