HWG Holdings LP Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• HWG Holdings LP has increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.3%, making it the fund's 4th largest position with a value of $21 million.
• A number of analysts have raised their price targets for Meta, with Morgan Stanley setting a new target of $850, reflecting strong expectations for the company's future growth.
• Insider selling has taken place, with Christopher K. Cox selling 60,000 shares valued at approximately $46.6 million, indicating some movement among company executives.

HWG Holdings LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,540 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.2% of HWG Holdings LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. HWG Holdings LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 257,922 shares of company stock valued at $196,412,792 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

META stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $778.38. 22,494,703 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,174,566. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $747.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $666.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 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 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 firm earned $5.16 EPS. The company's quarterly 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, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $826.05.

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.