Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,914 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,294 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.4% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 19,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,204,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 69,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,612,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the second quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,525 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $22,530,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the second quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 445 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Broad Peak Investment Advisers Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research increased their price target 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. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Roth Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $870.00 to $825.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $738.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $742.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $690.10. The company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 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 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. The trade was a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,951,541. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.