Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Northstar Financial Companies Inc.

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,016 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 357 shares during the quarter. Northstar Financial Companies Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,284 shares of company stock worth $235,008,531. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Benchmark upped their price objective 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ META opened at $747.38 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $733.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $658.54. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.