First National Bank of Omaha Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• First National Bank of Omaha reduced its Meta stake by 3.6% in the second quarter, selling 1,774 shares and retaining 47,503 shares valued at approximately $26.75 million.
• Meta’s stock was trading near $648, with a market capitalization of about $1.65 trillion. The company’s quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, though earnings per share missed analyst expectations.
• Investor sentiment remains broadly positive: JPMorgan upgraded Meta to Overweight with an $820 price target, and analysts cited potential from AI agents and infrastructure. Meta also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

First National Bank of Omaha trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,503 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,774 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of First National Bank of Omaha's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. First National Bank of Omaha's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,043,955 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,629,913,000 after buying an additional 3,613,211 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta's AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

META opened at $648.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $601.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $608.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total transaction of $13,005,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,003,864.48. This trade represents a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 61,581 shares of company stock valued at $37,512,295 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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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