Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial increased its Meta Platforms stake by 16.3% in the third quarter, holding 156,707 shares valued at approximately $113.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Meta receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $833.12. The company also exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $7.40 in EPS and $64.6 billion in revenue, up 26.1% year over year.
• Meta’s heavy AI investment plans could support future product launches and monetization, but proposed equity offerings of up to $95 billion raise dilution, margin and free-cash-flow concerns as the company funds its infrastructure expansion.

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,707 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 21,959 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Vest Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $113,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,957,946,000 after buying an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $850.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. President Capital raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $885.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $955.00 to $855.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $630.56 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's fifty day moving average is $664.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $632.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The company's revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.25 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.86 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 148,440 shares of company stock valued at $101,456,300 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, proprietary models, personal “superintelligence,” AI assistants such as Muse, and smart glasses. Analysts say the spending could accelerate new product launches and create additional monetization opportunities. Meta's $95 Billion AI Push Could Accelerate New Product Launches
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish, citing Meta’s strong advertising business, user engagement, international revenue growth and relatively low valuation. The company recently reported quarterly revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26% year over year, while earnings exceeded expectations. Analysts Stand by Meta's AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: Investors could eventually benefit if AI improves ad targeting, engagement and new product revenue. Some research argues that Meta’s core Family of Apps business remains attractively valued despite current AI and Reality Labs losses. Meta Platforms: Muse May Be Metaverse 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced approximately $35 billion of equity offerings and plans to raise as much as $95 billion overall, including up to $60 billion through an at-the-market program involving new nonvoting Class C shares. The proceeds are intended to fund AI infrastructure and long-term growth. Meta Announces $95 Billion Stock Offering
• Neutral Sentiment: The financing plan includes a new share class and a mandatory convertible preferred offering that could carry a 6%–6.5% dividend yield, changing Meta’s capital structure while limiting immediate cash funding needs. The New Meta Convertible Stock Offering
• Negative Sentiment: The planned stock issuance creates dilution risk and signals that Meta’s AI buildout will require substantial external capital. Investors are also concerned that aggressive spending could compress margins and weaken free cash flow before AI investments generate returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s elevated capital-expenditure outlook, combined with a reported $9.89 billion legal charge, has intensified concerns about near-term earnings quality, cash flow and execution risk. Meta Q3 Legal Charge and Capital Expenditures

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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