First Merchants Corp Buys 2,513 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Merchants Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,473 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. Insiders have sold a total of 161,967 shares of company stock worth $103,675,648 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $525.72 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $643.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $666.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Entergy revised its Louisiana data-center deal with Meta so Meta will pay full cost-of-service and fund local energy upgrades (including seven natural‑gas plants), reducing project/regulatory risk for the hyperscale build. Entergy revised Meta data-center deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑the‑news rhetoric has created value opportunities: analysts point to cheaper valuation metrics and upgraded EPS forecasts, with commentators highlighting potential cost-savings from restructuring. Meta Platforms: Lean Into The Fear (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively doubling down on AI infrastructure (Arm CPU initiative, large new data‑center programs) — a long‑term strategic positive for AI monetization but a near‑term cash drain that fuels investor uncertainty. Meta deepens AI strategy with new Arm CPU initiative (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid its first 2026 dividend ($0.525/share) — a modest income signal to investors but not material to the valuation story. Meta paid dividend (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent jury verdicts (including a $375M award and punitive damages from a social‑media addiction case) have raised the prospect of broader legal liability, regulatory changes and appeals that could increase future costs and compliance expenses. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Meta joins a tech selloff this week (Nasdaq weakness), with share price declines of double‑digit percentages from recent highs as investors factor in litigation risk and margin pressure from AI capex. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets report steep intraday drops and heavy option activity as traders reposition; headlines argue the verdicts could trigger follow‑on litigation or regulatory remedies that resemble a “Big Tobacco”‑style reckoning. Meta stock plunges after lawsuit defeats (Blockonomi)

Meta Platforms Profile

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.