Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,510 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,931 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.5% of Zions Bancorporation National Association UT's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,737,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta's AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta's child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $578.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $592.28 and its 200 day moving average is $611.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Meta Platforms

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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