Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock: Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,436 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Meta Platforms by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,777 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. William John Sempolinski bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $3,107,000. Sone Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 38.2% during the second quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,046,000 after buying an additional 4,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP now owns 115,985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,333,000 after buying an additional 45,130 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 worth $102,464,300. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $614.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $670.03 and a 200-day moving average of $632.26. The company has a market cap 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 one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $895.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, President Capital raised Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $660.00 to $897.00 in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

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.