Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.1%, owning a total of 10,598 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Other institutional investors, such as GAMMA Investing LLC, drastically increased their positions, with GAMMA's holdings growing by 67,172.9% to over 23 million shares valued at around $13.5 billion.
• Meta Platforms recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, set to be paid on September 29th, reflecting an annual yield of 0.3%.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 24.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,598 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after buying an additional 400,927 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the first 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first 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 valued at $7,229,553,000 after buying an additional 536,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,030,399,000 after buying an additional 280,357 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock valued at $214,119,908. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $750.90 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $741.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $661.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.