Ethos Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,556 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 147.0% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to nearly $3.47 million worth of shares.
• Meta reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $5.75 and demonstrating a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Recent analyst ratings for Meta have been positive, with multiple firms raising their price targets, with Guggenheim setting a new target of $800.00 per share.

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 147.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,975 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,556 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $15.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $751.48. The stock had a trading volume of 12,216,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,316,512. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $726.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $656.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $784.32, for a total transaction of $364,708.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,962,408.64. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Guggenheim restated 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.