Rep. Cleo Fields Purchases Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

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 Trading Down 1.3%

META opened at $761.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $711.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $649.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 25.4% during the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,409 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Capital Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.0% during the second quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 1,670 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.6% during the second quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 15,301 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $11,294,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Pembroke Management LTD purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $491,000. Finally, STF Management LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the second quarter. STF Management LP now owns 12,525 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,245,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,024 shares of company stock worth $188,466,159. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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