VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. Takes $223,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 302 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $811.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total value of $364,386.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,702,038.29. This trade represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total transaction of $372,112.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,313 shares in the company, valued at $21,016,834.74. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,665 shares of company stock worth $164,575,272 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $705.30 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $752.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $679.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.