First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 13,644 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 70,083 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 13,644 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,669,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,184,163,000 after purchasing an additional 400,927 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,543,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,229,553,000 after purchasing an additional 536,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,041,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,787,329,000 after purchasing an additional 247,850 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $830.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $827.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $648.35 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $738.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $699.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $749.57, for a total value of $387,527.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,965,078.06. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.00, for a total value of $390,807.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,900,268. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 181,971 shares of company stock valued at $140,461,589 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.