Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock: Paladin Wealth LLC Trims Stake

Paladin Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,634 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,117 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $885.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total value of $605,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,600. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $614.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year 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 fifty day simple moving average is $670.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $632.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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 of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 7.16%.

About Meta Platforms

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.