Whittier Trust Co. Has $147.58 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 257,540 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,974 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $147,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 26,682 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $15,265,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 1,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Bank lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 5,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,065,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 13,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,809,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors now owns 15,987 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,148,000 after purchasing an additional 5,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $37.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $669.21. 40,552,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,389,378. The business’s fifty day moving average is $598.11 and its 200 day moving average is $627.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s latest AI push is drawing bullish attention, including the launch of Muse Spark 1.1, expanded developer access through its Model API, and reports that the company plans to start producing an in-house AI chip in September. Investors are betting these moves could lower compute costs, reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, and open new revenue streams beyond advertising. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also benefiting from optimism around its cloud and AI infrastructure ambitions, including a new C$13 billion data center in Alberta and commentary that the company may be building a stronger long-term “AI revenue stack” than the market currently prices in. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators are still constructive on META, with bullish notes saying the stock looks attractively valued relative to its AI growth potential and that recent weakness created an opportunity for long-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP trimmed its price target to $800 from $825 while maintaining an outperform rating, suggesting continued upside but a slightly more cautious near-term view on valuation and spending. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed regulatory risk after the European Union said Facebook and Instagram may violate the Digital Services Act with “addictive” design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, potentially exposing the company to fines and product changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting also highlighted investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI capex could pressure margins if monetization takes longer than expected, even though the market is currently rewarding the strategy. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $767.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $838.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.