Argent Trust Co Has $35.27 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Argent Trust Co raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,622 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Argent Trust Co's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 180 GPS Investments IC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 9,306 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $38,762,000. 1ST Source Bank raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the second quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 6,944 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,911,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennon Green & Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the second quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 13,876 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,816,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse agent can perform tasks across Meta and third-party applications, including sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. Free and paid tiers—reportedly priced as high as $100 per month—give investors a potential subscription revenue stream and a clearer path to monetizing AI infrastructure. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps, send emails and make payments
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said early interest in Muse has exceeded expectations, boosting confidence that the product could achieve broad adoption across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Analysts remain constructive, with KeyBanc reaffirming an Overweight rating and a $780 price target. Meta says interest in its new AI agent has exceeded expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter indicates Meta acquired Stilla.ai to advance its Business Agent initiative. If confirmed, the deal could strengthen Meta’s tools for business automation, commerce and customer interactions. Market chatter on Meta’s acquisition of Stilla.ai
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic reportedly posted a high-paying sales role aimed at Meta, highlighting Meta’s importance as a major AI customer and suggesting continued demand for advanced AI models and infrastructure. The posting was later removed. Anthropic posted and deleted a sales job targeting Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s planned data-center expansion and optical-network agreements support its long-term AI ambitions, but the associated capital spending could pressure margins before agent subscriptions and other AI products become profitable. Meta’s AI capital-spending plans
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta less than a year after reportedly receiving a billion-dollar compensation package. The departure raises concerns about retaining elite AI talent during an increasingly competitive hiring cycle. Star AI researcher leaves Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Muse’s ability to access sensitive data and act across applications increases privacy, security and regulatory risks. Meta also faces litigation over alleged crypto-scam advertising, while its chief accounting officer sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,227 shares of company stock worth $21,205,509. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.6%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $599.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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