Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Northside Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Northside Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 8.4%, owning approximately 398,485 shares valued at $294 million, making it the firm's largest holding.
• Meta's latest earnings report showed a earnings per share of $7.14, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Meta, with the consensus rating now being a Moderate Buy and an average price target of $826.05.

Northside Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 398,485 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,799 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 22.4% of Northside Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Northside Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $294,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 230,336 shares of company stock valued at $176,625,049. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research 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.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $743.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $751.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $670.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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 was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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