Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Sells 3,730 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada trimmed its Meta stake by 3.8% (sold 3,730 shares), leaving 95,404 shares valued at $63.03 million and representing about 1.3% of the firm's portfolio (its 15th largest holding).
• Insider selling has been significant: COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares and Director Robert Kimmitt sold 580 shares, with insiders disposing of 165,600 shares worth $106.0 million over the past three months (insiders own 13.61% of the stock).
• Company fundamentals and risks: Meta beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations with revenue up 23.8% and a $1.71 trillion market cap, but faces geopolitical and execution risks after China blocked its Manus acquisition and reports of large job cuts amid heavy AI investment.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,404 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,730 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $63,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total transaction of $629,763.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,549,946.79. This represents a 8.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 165,600 shares of company stock worth $106,023,973 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $675.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $628.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $649.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta signed a deal with Overview Energy to secure space‑based solar power (including night‑time infrared beaming) for its data centers — a long‑term move to stabilize power supply and lower carbon/energy risk for heavy AI workloads. Meta partners with space startup Overview Energy to secure solar power for data centers
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and CBRE announced a multi‑year partnership to train thousands of fiber technicians — a capex/operational move that supports network expansion and could improve execution on connectivity investments. Meta Platforms (META) Partners With CBRE to Train Fiber Technicians
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is moving compute strategy toward cost‑efficient hardware by inking a deal to use Amazon’s Graviton processors for AI workloads — a step that may lower AI running costs and protect margins over time. Meta inks deal to use Amazon’s Graviton processors for AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces outline the pathway to a ~$2T valuation and debate near‑term buy/hold timing — helpful for sentiment framing but not new fundamental data. Here’s How Meta Platforms Gets to a $2 Trillion Valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: China’s National Development and Reform Commission has ordered the parties to withdraw Meta’s planned acquisition of agentic AI startup Manus (reported ~$2B–$2.5B), blocking the deal on national‑security/technology grounds — a direct hit to Meta’s cross‑border AI M&A strategy and a reminder of geopolitical execution risk. China blocks Meta's acquisition of AI startup Manus
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is preparing large job cuts (roughly double‑digit percentages reported) as it reallocates spending toward AI signal near‑term disruption and execution risk, even if intended to improve long‑run efficiency. Meta quietly plans massive job cuts as AI spending surges

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Pivotal Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.09.

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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