Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $22.16 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,331 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,946 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 28,225 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,899,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. SageGuard Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.1% during the second quarter. SageGuard Financial Group LLC now owns 17,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,741,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares during the last quarter. MontVue Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $727,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,425 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $549.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $593.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $614.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.