Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 1,971 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,511 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,971 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.5% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $155,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 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: Advertising growth supports the stock. Meta’s accelerating ad business is benefiting from AI-driven recommendation tools, high user engagement and greater advertiser adoption, helping the company maintain an advantage over Reddit and Snap. META Rides on Ad Growth: Can It Stay Ahead of RDDT and SNAP?
• Positive Sentiment: AI talent and investment strengthen Meta’s long-term narrative. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz has joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, reporting to Alexandr Wang. Mark Zuckerberg has also outlined an aggressive plan to build agentic AI, potentially broadening Meta’s growth beyond online advertising. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz joins Meta’s Superintelligence Labs under Alexandr Wang Mark Zuckerberg Published a 6,500-Word AI Manifesto
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and AI monetization potential add support. Reports of hedge-fund purchases during the second quarter and Meta’s ability to monetize AI usage through advertising are reinforcing the bullish long-term thesis. Two Legendary Investors Just Bought Meta Platforms Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector rotation is also helping. Meta and Alphabet edged higher while Snap gained and Reddit declined, indicating selective buying among social-media stocks rather than a uniform sector move. Social Media Trade Splits
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and governance risks remain overhangs. Meta’s unrestricted AI buildout requires significant investment, while reports that employee-monitoring apps shared worker data with Facebook could renew privacy and regulatory concerns. Bossware Data Shared with Facebook

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities raised Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $592.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $613.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,036 shares of company stock worth $21,710,720. Company insiders own 13.53% 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.