Park National Corp OH Acquires 7,353 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH increased its Meta Platforms stake by 9.3% in Q1, buying 7,353 additional shares to bring its total to 86,127 shares valued at about $49.3 million.
• Meta remains widely held by institutions, with major investors like Vanguard and State Street also adding to positions; overall, institutional ownership stands at 79.91%.
• Analysts still lean bullish on META, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60, even as some firms trimmed targets or ratings recently.

Park National Corp OH grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,127 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,353 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.5% of Park National Corp OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $49,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is making a major strategic push in India, investing $900 million in fintech startup CRED and appointing its founder, Kunal Shah, to lead WhatsApp. Investors may view this as a growth-oriented move that strengthens Meta’s positioning in a key market. Indian fintech firm CRED to raise $900 million from Meta at $4.5 billion valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continued to highlight upside potential for META, with reports noting Wall Street price targets implying substantial upside and framing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. Meta Taps New WhatsApp Boss as Part of $900 Million Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram beyond mobile with new TV features, a product move that could open another engagement channel but is not yet a material financial catalyst. Meta Takes on Streaming Giants With New ‘Instagram for TV' Offerings
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing an internal mouse-tracking and employee activity program while it reviews data-security concerns. The move may reduce near-term controversy, but it also underscores internal governance and privacy issues around its AI efforts. Meta to pause internal mouse-tracking tech while examining data security issues
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a leaked employee-activity database from Meta’s AI training program intensified backlash and raised concerns about internal data security and employee trust, which can weigh on sentiment. Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after a companywide leak
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being dragged by a broader tech selloff, with Meta included in a drop across the Magnificent 7 as investors rotate out of high-growth names. The Magnificent 7 Selloff Is a Rare Buying Opportunity

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

META stock opened at $563.85 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $619.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $633.52.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms 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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