Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Sells 7,513 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,791 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,513 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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. 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 1.2%

NASDAQ:META opened at $739.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $728.87 and a 200-day moving average of $657.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

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.