Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,280 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,628 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.8% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $152,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position 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 valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,694,644,000 after buying an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. Read More.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $691.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $655.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $695.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,780. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,077 shares of company stock valued at $23,955,958. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $848.50.

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.