Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 13,521 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.4%, now holding 131,735 shares valued at approximately $75.9 million.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with a revenue of $47.52 billion, reflecting a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a $0.525 quarterly dividend, with an annualized yield of 0.3%, and the payout ratio stands at 7.60%.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 131,735 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,521 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.8% of Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $75,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

META stock opened at $751.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $726.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $656.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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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