6,360 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Acquired by Somerset Trust Co

Somerset Trust Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,694,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.5% of Somerset Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $755.65, for a total transaction of $390,671.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,577 shares in the company, valued at $8,748,160.05. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $757.50, for a total transaction of $393,142.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,777,167.50. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 283,280 shares of company stock worth $214,119,908 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $755.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $741.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $661.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.