Citizens & Northern Corp Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Citizens & Northern Corp reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,194 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Citizens & Northern Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Watershed Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the second quarter. Watershed Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,509 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Div Capital Phoenix Assets Ltd raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. Div Capital Phoenix Assets Ltd now owns 109,139 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $61,477,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Vaquero Private Wealth Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $839,000. Finally, Andrews Advisory Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the second quarter. Andrews Advisory Associates LLC now owns 583 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $593.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $615.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. 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 quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $22,603,485. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms 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.