Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Belmont Capital LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Belmont Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9%, now owning 160,887 shares valued at approximately $92.7 million, making it the company's second-largest holding.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, alongside revenue of $47.52 billion, a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 79.91% of Meta's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company's shares.

Belmont Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,887 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,391 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 16.7% of Belmont Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $92,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,162,918,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,111,050,000 after buying an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ META traded up $3.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $752.45. The stock had a trading volume of 9,655,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,390,477. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $738.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $659.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 312,341 shares of company stock worth $234,443,690 in the last three months. 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.