Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s 3rd Largest Position

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634,157 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 42,452 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 5.4% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $468,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 516 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total value of $325,596.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,860,951. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $3,085,695.98. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 6,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,214.56. This trade represents a 42.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,024 shares of company stock valued at $19,233,987. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $590.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $704.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $705.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $825.05.

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.