Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 4,587 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, purchasing an additional 4,587 shares, bringing its total holdings to 239,979 shares worth approximately $138.3 million.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates by $1.39, with revenue growth of 21.6% year-over-year.
• Several research analysts have upgraded their price targets for Meta, with JMP Securities and Stifel Nicolaus both raising their targets to $900, indicating a bullish outlook for the stock.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 239,979 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 4,587 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $138,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $737.05 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $737.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms'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 fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research 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, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $755.11, for a total transaction of $390,391.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,522,692.21. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 312,767 shares of company stock worth $234,716,347 over the last three months. Corporate 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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