Rep. Cleo Fields Buys Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock

Key Points

• Representative Cleo Fields purchased shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) worth between $50,001 and $100,000 on July 16th and also made multiple trades in other tech stocks shortly after.
• Meta recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14 for the quarter, which exceeded analysts' expectations, and revenue increased by 21.6% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Meta, with new target prices reaching as high as $900.00, indicating strong market confidence in the company's performance.

Representative Cleo Fields (D-Louisiana) recently bought shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. NASDAQ: META. In a filing disclosed on August 06th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $50,001 and $100,000 in Meta Platforms stock on July 16th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "MORGAN STANLEY - E*TRADE #2" account.

Representative Cleo Fields also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ: AMD on 7/30/2025.
• Purchased $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOG on 7/30/2025.
• Purchased $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of Apple NASDAQ: AAPL on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of McDonald's NYSE: MCD on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $250,001 - $500,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOG on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 7/29/2025.
• Purchased $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 7/29/2025.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:META traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $770.04. 2,138,451 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,402,910. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $714.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $651.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 274,416 shares of company stock worth $199,599,359 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Representative FIELDS

Cleo Fields (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Fields (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the primary scheduled on November 3, 2026. Cleo Fields graduated from McKinley High School in 1980. He earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Southern University in 1984 and a J.D. from the Southern University Law Center in 1987. His career experience includes working as a state legislator and U.S. congressman. When Fields was elected to the Louisiana State Senate in 1986, he was the youngest person ever elected to the State Senate in Louisiana’s history. In 1995, Fields ran for governor of Louisiana, becoming the first African American since reconstruction to make the runoff.

About Meta Platforms

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.