First Dallas Securities Inc. Acquires 1,345 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 17.7% during Q1, owning 8,934 shares valued at approximately $5.15 million.
• Meta reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates significantly and showing a 21.6% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for META shares, with Bank of America increasing its target to $900 and 39 analysts rating it a Buy.

First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,934 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of First Dallas Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. First Dallas Securities Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $2,536,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.2% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,441 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $21,003,000 after buying an additional 3,955 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $395,000. Sender Co & Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $3,506,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.8% during the first quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 19,999 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $11,527,000 after buying an additional 4,941 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 282,244 shares of company stock valued at $213,336,095 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $13.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $751.98. 11,675,870 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,808,190. The stock's 50-day moving average is $739.60 and its 200-day moving average is $660.03. 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 has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, July 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

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.