Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.9% during the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $67 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Meta Platforms, with Loop Capital setting a new target of $980, reflecting a broader positive sentiment for the company's stock.
• Meta Platforms recently reported quarterly earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,494 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,845 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $67,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $4.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $752.07. 3,221,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,015,507. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.27. The business's fifty day moving average is $733.50 and its 200-day moving average is $658.54. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,284 shares of company stock worth $235,008,531 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.