Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Gruss & Co. LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Gruss & Co. LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 3.4% of Gruss & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Gruss & Co. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Myecfo LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Myecfo LLC now owns 776 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Shelton Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:META opened at $609.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $719.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $704.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $9,062,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,533,150. This trade represents a 1.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,430 shares of company stock valued at $45,313,988. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Mizuho lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 target price (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

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.