Lifeworks Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after acquiring an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $627.08 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $721.92 and a 200-day moving average of $705.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total value of $402,225.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,946 shares in the company, valued at $25,533,150. The trade was a 1.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,397 shares of company stock valued at $44,662,165. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.