Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Maple Capital Management Inc.

Maple Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,233 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.3% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,041,000 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 stock. Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the first quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 1,832 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.6% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 485 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the first quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 738 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.5% during the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 2,409 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 29.0% during the first quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 46,902 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,032,000 after purchasing an additional 10,531 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 quarter, insiders sold 283,280 shares of company stock worth $214,119,908. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $750.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $741.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $661.24. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share 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 net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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.