General American Investors Co. Inc. Buys 5,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

General American Investors Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of General American Investors Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. General American Investors Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 50.0% during the second quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 2,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 296,545 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,877,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Pavion Blue Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pavion Blue Capital LLC now owns 873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,250 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,089,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.7% in the second quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,279 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $621.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $726.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $702.51. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $827.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 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 transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,798 shares of company stock valued at $58,347,026. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.