M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, raising its holdings to 411,293 shares worth about $271.5 million.
• Meta continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with firms like Vanguard and State Street also adding shares; overall, institutions own 79.91% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on META, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $840.31, while recent earnings topped expectations and revenue grew 33.1% year over year.

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 411,293 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,495 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of M&T Bank Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,191,175,000. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 209.3% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 430,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $314,340,000 after acquiring an additional 824,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.63 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $645.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 168,193 shares of company stock worth $107,642,717 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.