Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Lowered by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.7% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,694,644,000 after acquiring an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,506,247.42. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,478 shares of company stock worth $6,799,696 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $639.29 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $656.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $691.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multiyear deal to buy millions of Nvidia AI chips (GPUs and new standalone CPUs) to power its data‑center and AI stack, accelerating its ability to deploy large models and AI features across apps (WhatsApp cited). This reduces execution risk for Meta’s AI roadmap and supports revenue upside from AI-driven ad/product improvements. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has made a large, high‑profile investment in Meta, signaling smart‑money conviction that the stock is undervalued given its AI growth potential; this can lift investor sentiment and attract other institutional buyers. Meta’s Platforms’ New Bull: Why Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Buying
• Positive Sentiment: Supply‑chain/infra tailwind: reporting highlights a large Meta partnership with Corning (reported ~$6B deal to outfit data centers). That supports Meta’s capex plans for data‑center expansion and underpins investments tied to AI workloads. Corning’s Surprise AI Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Third‑party ecosystem news: Virtuix announced its Omni One treadmill will be Made for Meta (Quest) certified, expanding XR ecosystem engagement — a positive for product stickiness but unlikely to move Meta’s top line materially near term. Virtuix Omni One to Launch Compatibility with Meta Quest Headsets
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Spain has asked prosecutors to probe X, Meta and TikTok over AI‑generated images allegedly involving minors, increasing legal/PR risk and potential compliance costs or fines tied to AI content moderation. That raises near‑term regulatory uncertainty for Meta’s platforms. Spain to Probe X, Meta, TikTok Over AI Images
• Negative Sentiment: Market/regulatory risk in India: Indian officials are discussing age‑based social‑media restrictions that could meaningfully affect user reach and ad monetization in one of Meta’s largest markets, increasing policy risk and potential future revenue impact. India discussing age-based restrictions with social media firms, top minister says

Meta Platforms Company 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.