Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Raised by Eagle Global Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 41.7% during the second quarter, holding nearly 29,000 shares valued at approximately $21.37 million.
• Meta Platforms experienced significant institutional investment changes, with Kingstone Capital Partners increasing its stake by over 608,000% and owning nearly $44.12 billion worth of shares.
• Analysts have upgraded Meta's stock ratings and price targets, with Bank of America raising its target from $775 to $900, indicating strong positive sentiment towards the company's performance.

Eagle Global Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,955 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,527 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Eagle Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Eagle Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,787,329,000 after buying an additional 247,850 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total transaction of $352,223.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,371,837.64. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.20, for a total value of $399,214.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,345,989.20. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,663 shares of company stock worth $164,570,329 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.02.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $717.34 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $753.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $673.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Meta Platforms 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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