Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Seamount Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Seamount Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 62.7%, acquiring a total of 1,559 shares worth approximately $1.15 million.
• Several hedge funds have also recently invested in Meta, with institutional investors now holding 79.91% of the company's stock.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly EPS of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Seamount Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,559 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 601 shares during the quarter. Seamount Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on META. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased 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, HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.68.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total transaction of $12,192,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 212,681 shares of company stock worth $163,863,761. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $708.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock's 50-day moving average is $749.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $680.94. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.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 company posted $5.16 earnings per share. 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, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms 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.