Farmers Trust Co. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Farmers Trust Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,990,544,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,111,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $757.47, for a total value of $352,223.55. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,371,837.64. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $781.33, for a total value of $403,947.61. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,237,562.19. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,336 shares of company stock worth $176,625,049 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $826.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $748.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $750.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $669.54.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.