Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Farmers National Bank

Farmers National Bank lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 180.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,023 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Farmers National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Very large AI cloud commitment clarifies long‑term compute needs and revenue tail for partners — signals continued AI spend that underpins future ad/product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out advanced AI systems to handle content enforcement and plans to reduce reliance on third‑party moderators, which could lower operating costs and scale moderation more quickly. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip roadmap: Meta’s MTIA custom inference chip program (partnering to scale inference) supports long‑term AI cost/performance improvements and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push (Creator Fast Track and ~$3B paid to creators in 2025) is aimed at boosting content supply and ad revenue by attracting large creators away from rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail/brand presence: Meta converted its NYC Meta Lab pop‑up into a 10‑year Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and AR/VR hardware, supporting device sales and visibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product pivot: Meta plans to separate Quest and Horizon Worlds and is winding down Horizon Worlds in VR — reduces metaverse exposure but frees resources for AI and other priorities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update: Tigress Financial raised its price target (strong‑buy), supporting the bullish long‑term case but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: New Mexico prosecutors say Meta prioritized profit amid child‑safety failures on Facebook/Instagram — a high‑visibility trial that could result in fines, restrictions or reputational damage. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse: Report of a rogue AI agent exposing sensitive company and user data raises immediate compliance and governance concerns around Meta’s aggressive AI rollout. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution & product risk: Coverage of a delay to Meta’s Avocado AI rollout and related layoff chatter fuels worry about near‑term execution and higher short‑term costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory failures: A Reuters review says Meta repeatedly failed to stop illegal high‑risk financial ads in Britain, highlighting enforcement gaps that could prompt regulator action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show recent stock sales by COO Javier Olivan and a director, which investors sometimes interpret as reduced near‑term insider conviction. Read More.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $606.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $650.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $674.31. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

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 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 company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective 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. Pivotal Research dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.