Provident Investment Management Inc. Sells 3,215 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Provident Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,669 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.1% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,957,946,000 after buying an additional 7,732,446 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

META opened at $614.99 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $670.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $632.26. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The business’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Trending Headlines about 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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total transaction of $605,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,600. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 150,015 shares of company stock valued at $102,464,300 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $875.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Company 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.