2,970 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Samalin Investment Counsel LLC

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 54.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,455 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,970 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta settled a teen lawsuit alleging that Instagram and Facebook contributed to addiction, depression and eating disorders. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the agreement removes Meta from an upcoming Los Angeles trial and reduces near-term litigation uncertainty. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising fundamentals remain strong: recent coverage cited higher ad pricing, rising impressions, improved AI-driven ad conversions and strong engagement. Analysts also see meaningful upside, with one fair-value estimate raised from $813.65 to $848.38 per share. Meta fair value report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its relationship with Advanced Micro Devices, including a $1 billion equity investment and multi-generation chip co-design for Meta’s AI data centers. The deal may improve access to computing capacity and supplier diversification. AMD and Meta partnership report

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. President Capital upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $895.00 to $905.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $833.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total transaction of $605,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,225,600. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 150,015 shares of company stock valued at $102,464,300. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $614.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $670.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $632.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.16%.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.