Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 930,966 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,919 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.6% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $524,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
Meta Platforms stock opened at $549.90 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $593.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $615.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $22,603,485 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
- Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
- Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
- Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
- Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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Free Report)
Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.
Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.
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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
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