Somerset Trust Co Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Somerset Trust Co acquired 6,360 shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. valued at approximately $4,694,000, positioning it as the firm's 24th largest investment.
• Insiders at Meta have recently sold significant amounts of stock, with 283,280 shares worth $214 million sold in the last ninety days.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for META, with KeyCorp setting a new target at $905.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Somerset Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,360 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $4,694,000. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Somerset Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of META traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $755.59. The stock had a trading volume of 8,240,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,519,708. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $741.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $661.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,343,464.11. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 283,280 shares of company stock worth $214,119,908 in the last quarter. 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.