Caldwell Trust Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after acquiring an additional 142,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after acquiring an additional 558,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $609.63 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $645.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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