American Trust Has $2.89 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• American Trust reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 27.0%, selling 1,859 shares, leaving it with 5,022 shares worth approximately $2.89 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a Q2 earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue increasing by 21.6% year-over-year to $47.52 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for META, with Stifel Nicolaus setting a new target at $900.00, reflecting strong optimism around the stock's future performance.

American Trust decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,022 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,859 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 282,761 shares of company stock valued at $213,726,766. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $13.72 on Wednesday, reaching $751.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,062,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,602,366. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $740.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $660.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Company 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.