Strs Ohio Buys Shares of 990,849 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 990,849 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,086,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.4% of Strs Ohio’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total transaction of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 11,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,748,160.05. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total transaction of $376,923.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,173,185. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 282,761 shares of company stock valued at $213,726,766 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $751.98 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average price of $740.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $660.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.