Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Lifted by Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 15.7%, owning a total of 27,353 shares valued at approximately $15.77 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares for over $46 million, reducing his ownership by 20.19%, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares valued at around $11.94 million.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings per share of $7.14 for the last quarter, beating estimates, with a revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% year-on-year increase.

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,353 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.4% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm'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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $754.79 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $730.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $657.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27.

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. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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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