Providence First Trust Co Sells 3,320 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Providence First Trust Co cut its Meta Platforms stake by 61.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,320 shares and leaving it with 2,054 shares valued at about $1.36 million.
• Other institutional investors mostly added to or maintained their Meta positions, and institutions now own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.31, despite a few recent downgrades and concerns about heavy AI spending and regulatory pressure.

Providence First Trust Co lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 61.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,054 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,320 shares during the quarter. Providence First Trust Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 363,321 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $239,825,000 after purchasing an additional 11,689 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 181,970 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $120,112,000 after purchasing an additional 11,548 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,970,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 58,813 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $38,822,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square continues to hold Meta alongside other megacap AI leaders, reinforcing the view that META remains a core long-term AI and digital ads name. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google. Is Ackman's Hedge Fund Just a Mag 7 Play?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point out that Meta’s latest earnings beat was strong, with faster revenue growth and better-than-expected EPS, which supports the bull case despite recent volatility. Meta Platforms Stock Performance
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is getting attention as one of the most-watched stocks on Zacks, suggesting investors are closely focused on what comes next for AI spending, ad growth, and margins. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is still a key part of the AI trade, but commentary about an AI bubble and crowded megacap positioning is keeping sentiment cautious around the stock. UBS warns AI stocks are overheating as growth expectations collide with history
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO said 2026 capital expenditures are expected to keep rising, intensifying concerns that heavy AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and near-term profitability. Money Pit? Zuckerberg Just Exposed Why Hyperscaler AI Spending Keeps Going Up
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and regulatory pressure, including a New Mexico youth-safety trial, an Italian lawsuit over minors’ social media use, and a California suit tied to AI scam ads and advertising practices. Meta and Google fund US kids' groups, as critics warn of social media risk
• Negative Sentiment: Some fund managers trimmed META holdings, which may add to near-term caution even though other investors increased exposure. ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood Cuts Meta Platforms Stake Sharply

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $614.23 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $622.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $640.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 169,231 shares of company stock valued at $108,239,954. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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