Park National Corp OH Purchases 16,625 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Park National Corp OH grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 78,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,625 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Park National Corp OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 45,058 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $29,742,000 after buying an additional 5,390 shares during the period. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $255,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 311.2% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Miller Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,483,000. Finally, CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 10,686 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,054,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ META opened at $593.66 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $649.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $672.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price objective (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.