First Citizens Financial Corp Buys 215 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,198 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total value of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,748,160.05. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6%

META opened at $755.59 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $741.83 and a 200-day moving average of $661.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.