American National Bank & Trust Buys 1,184 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• American National Bank & Trust raised its stake in Meta by 31.6% in Q4, adding 1,184 shares to hold 4,934 shares worth about $3.26 million.
• Meta beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $8.88 (vs. $8.16 expected) and revenue of $59.89 billion, up 23.8% year‑over‑year, and the company sits near a $1.59 trillion market capitalization.
• Outlook is mixed: AI developments (Muse Spark launch and a $21 billion CoreWeave compute deal) and analyst upgrades support the stock, but a Massachusetts youth‑addiction lawsuit and significant insider selling (including the CFO) raise legal and governance concerns.

American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,934 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during 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 during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ META opened at $629.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $628.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $654.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Spark launch strengthens Meta’s AI narrative — investors see the new LLM as evidence Meta can compete with other big‑model providers and begin monetizing AI via commerce, APIs and ad tools; early analyst support and bullish writeups helped lift shares. Meta's AI Outlook Brightens With Muse Spark Release
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded $21B CoreWeave deal gives Meta committed AI compute capacity through 2032 — reduces operational risk of running large models, signals scale and continuity for AI roadmaps (though it implies heavy future spending). CoreWeave signs $21 billion AI cloud deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support is improving — CFRA upgraded Meta to Strong Buy and some firms remain constructive on share recovery tied to AI gains, helping sentiment. CFRA Just Upgraded Meta to Strong Buy. The AI Turnaround Story Is Getting Hard to Argue With
• Neutral Sentiment: Street price targets and ratings are mixed — some firms trimmed targets while keeping outperform/buy ratings, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside but concern over valuation and spend. (See recent Wolfe/KeyCorp/Rosenblatt notes.)
• Negative Sentiment: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Meta must face a state lawsuit alleging features were designed to addict teens — the decision increases legal and regulatory risk and could widen damages exposure if similar suits progress. Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit by Massachusetts, court rules
• Negative Sentiment: Meta pulled ads recruiting potential plaintiffs for social‑media addiction suits — a defensive PR/legal move that underscores ongoing litigation pressure and recent adverse jury outcomes. Meta pulls ads aimed at recruiting plaintiffs for social media addiction lawsuits

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $855.00 to $760.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $838.04.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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