Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,664 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 worth $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $829.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,951,541 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $738.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $742.11 and its 200 day moving average is $690.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 7.60%.

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.