Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Harrell Investment Partners LLC's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.5%, making it the firm's 10th largest position, valued at approximately $8.37 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Meta, with Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC showing an astonishing 608,429.2% increase in ownership during the second quarter.
• Analysts have reacted favorably, raising target prices, including TD Cowen's increase to $875.00 and Loop Capital's to $980.00, reflecting a consensus average target of $826.05 for Meta Platforms.

Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,336 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Harrell Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Harrell Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position 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 valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,111,050,000 after buying an additional 1,470,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a 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 report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $743.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $751.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $671.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 229,819 shares of company stock valued at $176,241,968. 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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