Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.8% of Sentinel Trust Co. LBA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $284,000. Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirepoint Private Client LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.4%

META stock opened at $635.95 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $731.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $700.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $782.13, for a total transaction of $2,042,923.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,951,227.17. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $787.06, for a total value of $12,472,539.82. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 91,126 shares of company stock worth $70,145,792 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $827.60.

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.