Verity Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 328 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 137.2% in the 1st quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 18,675 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,764,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $827.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.00, for a total transaction of $326,227.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,924 shares in the company, valued at $4,369,044. This trade represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,421 shares of company stock valued at $33,573,980. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $716.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $703.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Meta Platforms 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.