Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 1,039 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.3%, now holding 44,746 shares valued at approximately $33 million, making it the 18th largest position in their portfolio.
• Insider sales include Christopher K. Cox selling 60,000 shares for over $46 million, and Mark Zuckerberg selling nearly 16,000 shares for about $11.9 million in early August.
• Meta Platforms has received several analyst upgrades, with price targets now ranging from $710 to $900, reflecting a strong bullish sentiment despite recent insider selling.

Fulton Bank N.A. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,746 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,039 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.2% of Fulton Bank N.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Fulton Bank N.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $301,000. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 43.6% in the second quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,929 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,799 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the second quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 55,123 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $39,634,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.2% in the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 63,808 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $47,096,000 after acquiring an additional 6,432 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 257,922 shares of company stock valued at $196,412,792 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2%

META opened at $778.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $747.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $666.00. 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 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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