Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,550 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 4,811 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary: Jim Cramer publicly called META a buy, reinforcing retail and momentum interest in the name and supporting short-term demand. Jim Cramer on Meta Platforms (META): “I just think this one’s a buy”
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term AI investment thesis: A Seeking Alpha piece highlights aggressive AI capex and forecasts 22–31% near-term revenue growth, arguing Meta can sustain growth despite margin pressure — a supportive fundamental narrative for investors focused on multi-year returns. Meta Platforms: Follow The Numbers
• Positive Sentiment: Ad tools & ad revenue durability: A new free Meta Ads Rolling Reach Report for e-commerce advertisers could help optimize campaigns and demonstrate continued advertiser demand for Meta’s platforms. Incremental ad product adoption supports the advertising revenue outlook. growthzacks Releases Meta Ads Rolling Reach Report Generator for ECommerce Advertisers to Measure Audience Saturation
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/shopper endorsements: Recent retail and analyst write-ups (e.g., The Motley Fool) continue to feature META as a top growth pick, backing investor interest and buy-side conviction. 1 Top Growth Stock to Buy in February
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/peer comparisons: Pieces comparing Broadcom and Meta highlight AI exposure but present them as different risk/reward profiles; useful for allocation decisions but not an immediate catalyst. Broadcom or Meta Platforms? Which Is the Better Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Market context: Broader AI-led rotation and macro commentary (Zacks, market note) are lifting tech sentiment generally; Meta participates in that theme but is also idiosyncratically exposed to legal/regulatory news. Bulls Take Control Amid New AI Spending & Expanding Breadth
• Negative Sentiment: Alarming internal findings made public: Unsealed documents report a Meta researcher warned of up to 500,000 daily child exploitation cases on Facebook/Instagram — a reputational and litigation risk that can amplify regulatory scrutiny and attract settlement/penalty concerns. Meta researcher warned of 500K child exploitation cases daily on Facebook and Instagram platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in EU over WhatsApp AI policy: The European Commission has charged Meta with breaching antitrust rules and threatened interim measures to force WhatsApp access for rival AI assistants — potential changes could limit product control and create compliance costs. EU threatens Meta with interim measure for blocking AI rivals from WhatsApp
• Negative Sentiment: Legal setbacks and trials: Landmark US trials accuse Meta of designing addictive products; separately, a German court ordered Meta’s Edge Network to pay Deutsche Telekom ~€30M — legal exposure and adverse rulings increase uncertainty and headline risk. Meta subsidiary loses appeal against Deutsche Telekom over network services Meta and YouTube Created ‘Digital Casinos,’ Lawyers Argue in Landmark Trial

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total value of $369,448.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,870,879. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This trade represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 38,561 shares of company stock valued at $23,673,584 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $670.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $657.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $694.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.28.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The business 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 firm’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.50.

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.