Vest Financial LLC Has $71.04 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 10,140 more shares and bringing its total holding to 107,615 shares valued at about $71.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with large investors like Vanguard and State Street also adding shares; overall, institutional holders control roughly 79.9% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta’s latest earnings were strong, as it beat analyst expectations with $10.44 EPS and $56.31 billion in revenue, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.31.

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,615 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,140 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Vest Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $71,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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. State Street Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Meta Platforms by 209.3% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 430,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $314,340,000 after acquiring an additional 824,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total transaction of $562,767.24. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 price target 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 target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

NASDAQ META opened at $609.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $627.67 and a 200-day moving average of $645.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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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