Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 7,167 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 48.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,671 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,167 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.6% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $585,250.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,261 shares in the company, valued at $9,013,237.22. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,416,759. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $593.66 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $649.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $672.42. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

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.