Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.2% of Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Nicola Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total value of $393,142.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,777,167.50. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% 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 valued at $214,119,908. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Benchmark upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $750.90 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $741.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $661.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

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.