UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Posted by Francis Steltz on Sep 12th, 2026

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 2.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,788,429,000 after buying an additional 823,883 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $648.03 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $601.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Read Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta’s AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.71, for a total transaction of $1,750,222.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,192,072.02. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 61,581 shares of company stock valued at $37,512,295 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

(Free Report)

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.