Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Bender Robert & Associates’ 6th Largest Position

Bender Robert & Associates reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 6.3% of Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Myecfo LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Kooman & Associates raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 544 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 1,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $716.91 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $746.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $684.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.85, for a total value of $367,374.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,794 shares in the company, valued at $20,381,832.90. This represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.34, for a total value of $368,796.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,414,353.28. This represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 213,665 shares of company stock worth $164,568,109 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.