Rockland Trust Co. Has $38.76 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 10,733 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.6% of Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total value of $342,869.23. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,033,702.62. This represents a 5.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction 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 represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,478 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,696 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $639.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $656.74 and a 200-day moving average of $691.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. 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 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted 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 report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.29.

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.