Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $18.56 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,375 shares to reach 28,121 shares valued at about $18.56 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, posting $10.44 EPS versus the $6.67 estimate and $56.31 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• Despite recent share pressure, Wall Street remains broadly bullish: several analysts reiterated buy ratings, and Meta also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,121 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,375 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1%

META opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. 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 company has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $617.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $636.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $608.98, for a total transaction of $509,716.26. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,823 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,417,930.54. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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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