Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,794 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,118 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of First National Trust Co's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. First National Trust Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2%

META opened at $578.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $592.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $611.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta's AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta's child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source