ANB Bank Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

ANB Bank trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of ANB Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. ANB Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $2,990,544,000. Amundi increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,733,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,111,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470,070 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $571,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $633.61 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $688.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $706.33.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,506,247.42. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,759,811 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,086.00 to $1,117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $823.93.

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.