First National Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First National Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,006 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of First National Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 319,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $234,584,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $1,340,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.0% during the third quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 749 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 10,843 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Financial Corp WA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.4% in the third quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 1,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at $3,454,330.36. This trade represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,478 shares of company stock worth $6,799,696. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $639.29 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $656.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $691.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multiyear deal to buy millions of Nvidia AI chips (GPUs and new standalone CPUs) to power its data‑center and AI stack, accelerating its ability to deploy large models and AI features across apps (WhatsApp cited). This reduces execution risk for Meta’s AI roadmap and supports revenue upside from AI-driven ad/product improvements. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has made a large, high‑profile investment in Meta, signaling smart‑money conviction that the stock is undervalued given its AI growth potential; this can lift investor sentiment and attract other institutional buyers. Meta’s Platforms’ New Bull: Why Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Buying
• Positive Sentiment: Supply‑chain/infra tailwind: reporting highlights a large Meta partnership with Corning (reported ~$6B deal to outfit data centers). That supports Meta’s capex plans for data‑center expansion and underpins investments tied to AI workloads. Corning’s Surprise AI Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Third‑party ecosystem news: Virtuix announced its Omni One treadmill will be Made for Meta (Quest) certified, expanding XR ecosystem engagement — a positive for product stickiness but unlikely to move Meta’s top line materially near term. Virtuix Omni One to Launch Compatibility with Meta Quest Headsets
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Spain has asked prosecutors to probe X, Meta and TikTok over AI‑generated images allegedly involving minors, increasing legal/PR risk and potential compliance costs or fines tied to AI content moderation. That raises near‑term regulatory uncertainty for Meta’s platforms. Spain to Probe X, Meta, TikTok Over AI Images
• Negative Sentiment: Market/regulatory risk in India: Indian officials are discussing age‑based social‑media restrictions that could meaningfully affect user reach and ad monetization in one of Meta’s largest markets, increasing policy risk and potential future revenue impact. India discussing age-based restrictions with social media firms, top minister says

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.