Providence First Trust Co Purchases 838 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Providence First Trust Co boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,374 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 838 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Providence First Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,694,644,000 after acquiring an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results materially beat expectations: revenue roughly $59.9B and EPS of $8.88, plus first?quarter revenue guidance above consensus ($53.5B–$56.5B). Strong ad momentum and user metrics support the core business. CNBC: Meta beats on top, bottom lines, gives stronger-than-expected forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction includes fresh bullish calls and upgrades ahead of/after the print, reflecting confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven monetization. Evercore reiterates outperform
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing premium subscription tiers across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to diversify revenue and add AI features — a potential long?term positive but unclear near?term impact. CNBC: Meta to test premium subscription plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Large supplier deals (e.g., up to $6B with Corning for fiber?optic cable) validate Meta’s AI data?center buildout but also signal sustained capital intensity. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs continues to be a heavy drag: an operating loss of about $6.02B in Q4 and management disclosing multi?billion?dollar losses tied to XR investments. That amplifies margin risk. CNBC: Reality Labs loss
• Negative Sentiment: Meta signaled a dramatic increase in AI capex for 2026 (management cited a $115B–$135B buildout range), a front?loaded spending plan that raises questions about near?term returns and margin dilution. Reuters: Capex rise
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier TechCrunch reporting shows Reality Labs burned roughly $19B in recent periods and layoffs in that unit — a reminder that XR investment remains costly and uncertain. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (small amount relative to his holdings) — a minor negative signal that some investors will note. SEC filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on META. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $785.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $668.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $646.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $695.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

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.