United Community Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• United Community Bank cut its Meta Platforms stake by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,249 shares and leaving it with 3,343 shares valued at about $2.2 million.
• Meta reported strong Q1 earnings, posting $10.44 EPS versus expectations of $6.67 and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• Despite upbeat analyst sentiment and a Moderate Buy consensus target of $840.31, investors are watching Meta’s large 2026 AI-related capital spending plans and recent insider selling.

United Community Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,343 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,249 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of United Community Bank's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. United Community Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Boyer Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. KTF Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $21,316,000. Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 7,167 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,731,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 8,943 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,903,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,054 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Key Stories 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $609.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $627.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $645.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

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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