First Financial Bankshares Inc Buys 56,723 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Financial Bankshares Inc raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 66.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 141,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,723 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.9% of First Financial Bankshares Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $93,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Reliance Industries to build its first AI-enabled data center in India, a 168-megawatt facility that could support its global AI infrastructure push and long-term capacity needs. Mark Zuckerberg Teams Up With India’s Richest Man To Build Meta’s Next AI Powerhouse
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to upside from Meta’s AI and subscription initiatives, including commentary that the company may be building a sizable new recurring revenue stream to help offset infrastructure costs. Meta is building a new $20B business, Truist says
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes highlighted Meta as an attractive long-term AI and compounder stock, reinforcing bullish sentiment despite recent volatility. 5 Best Compounder Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is drawing attention for hiring, workforce reallocation, and training efforts tied to the AI data-center boom, which may help execution but does not change near-term earnings directly. The workers Meta and Google desperately need aren’t in Silicon Valley
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains split on Meta’s AI capital spending cycle, with some analysts lifting estimates while others warn investors are waiting for proof that higher capex will generate returns. Meta navigates AI investment cycle as Street weighs costs against returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also received a modest earnings estimate bump from Erste Group, suggesting analysts see continued earnings strength, though the rating remained Hold. Meta Platforms stock research summary
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is growing that Meta’s aggressive AI spending could pressure margins and free cash flow before monetization fully catches up, which is weighing on sentiment. Are investors growing concerned about Meta’s AI spend?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta lost a bid for a new trial in its youth social-media addiction case, keeping legal overhangs alive for the stock. Google and Meta denied new trial in youth social media addiction case
• Negative Sentiment: A report also said hackers breached thousands of Instagram accounts through an AI-related bug, adding another security and product-trust issue for Meta. Hackers Breach 20K Instagram Accounts Due to AI Bug

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $568.43 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $621.39 and its 200 day moving average is $636.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

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.