Rep. John McGuire Buys Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares

Representative John McGuire (R-Virginia) recently bought shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. NASDAQ: META. In a filing disclosed on July 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on June 30th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "MERRILL LYNCH SEP IRA" account.

Representative John McGuire also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of ServiceNow NYSE: NOW on 6/27/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Netflix NASDAQ: NFLX on 6/16/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of ServiceNow NYSE: NOW on 5/16/2025.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $1.50 on Thursday, reaching $701.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,776,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,365,357. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $681.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $636.39. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on META. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $375,278.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,225,251.04. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total value of $370,947.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,892,632.50. This represents a 7.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

About Representative McGuire

John McGuire (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Virginia's 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. McGuire (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Virginia's 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election. John McGuire was born in Richmond, Virginia. McGuire graduated from Henrico High School. He served as a U.S. Navy Seal from 1988 to 1998. His professional experience includes founding SEAL Team Physical Training Inc.

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.