Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Buys 677 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 3.7%, purchasing 677 additional shares, bringing its total to 19,166 shares valued at approximately $11.05 million.
• The company reported $7.14 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, and achieved a revenue of $47.52 billion for the last quarter.
• Meta Platforms has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%.

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,166 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.4% of Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $751.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $726.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $656.42. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 313,803 shares of company stock valued at $235,276,424 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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