Heartland Bank & Trust Co Buys 1,341 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,573 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% 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. Insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $627.17 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $605.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $626.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped his lawsuit against Meta over alleged social-media addiction harms ahead of trial, reducing legal overhang and removing a potential headline risk for the company.
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a long-term hardware growth driver, noting strong early product reception and Meta’s first-mover advantage in shipping AI glasses at scale.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted strong demand for AI infrastructure led by Meta, including record hyperscaler leasing and speculation around a large compute deal with Anthropic, reinforcing confidence in Meta’s AI spending strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and Rothschild & Co Redburn both raised price targets on Meta, signaling that some Wall Street analysts remain constructive on the stock’s longer-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to face mixed sentiment around its AI push, including scrutiny over heavy capital spending and broader concerns about big-tech debt and future infrastructure commitments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Meta with other Magnificent 7 names suggests investors are watching upcoming earnings closely for signs that the company can re-accelerate enthusiasm around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cited by Zacks warned Meta may report weaker earnings growth in its upcoming results, which could weigh on sentiment if the company disappoints expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles continued to focus on regulatory and legal risks tied to social-media harms, including criticism of Meta’s platforms and broader scrutiny of addictive features.

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.