Midwest Trust Co Acquires 4,771 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Midwest Trust Co increased its Meta Platforms stake by 3.5% in Q1, buying 4,771 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 139,423 shares worth about $79.8 million.
• Meta reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus estimate, and revenue rose 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion.
• Despite strong fundamentals, insiders have recently sold shares and analysts have trimmed some price targets, though Wall Street still broadly rates the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $830.45.

Midwest Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 139,423 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,771 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Midwest Trust Co's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Midwest Trust Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $79,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% during 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 buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $664.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $602.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $626.87. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta's 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft's Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

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.

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