Advisors Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, owning a total of 11,584 shares worth approximately $6.68 million at the end of the quarter.
• Meta recently reported quarterly earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, alongside a revenue of $47.52 billion—up 21.6% year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, set to be paid on September 29th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,584 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $750.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $741.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $661.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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