Isthmus Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 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 research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $604,381.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,039 shares in the company, valued at $11,121,014.52. This trade represents a 5.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 103,837 shares of company stock worth $66,356,760 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $657.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $656.04 and a 200 day moving average of $686.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major AMD GPU agreement strengthens Meta’s AI scale and supplier diversification, supporting long?term ad/AI monetization potential even as it implies higher capital spending. META Taps AMD GPUs
• Positive Sentiment: Report that Meta will rent Google TPUs to accelerate model development gives the company faster access to compute and reduces dependence on any single vendor, aiding short?term AI progress. Google signs multibillion-dollar AI chip deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s quarterly cash dividend ($0.525/share) adds a modest income component and can help stabilize the stock amid a heavy AI capex cycle. MarketBeat META overview
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly planning a stablecoin/payments pilot in H2 2026 — a long?term monetization opportunity that could boost creator payouts and cross?border settlement, but timing, partners and regulation remain key uncertainties. CoinDesk: Meta stablecoin plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest in META declined meaningfully in February, reducing a potential downside crowd and making rallies easier to sustain (short?covering risk lower).
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO Susan Li reported large share sales (most recently disclosed Feb. 24 filing), and COO Javier Olivan sold shares — routine but can be interpreted negatively by some investors. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing litigation and regulatory scrutiny — high?profile U.S. trial over alleged social?media harm and EU antitrust disputes — keep headline risk and potential compliance costs elevated. Reuters: social?media trial Reuters: EU court adviser on antitrust
• Negative Sentiment: AI talent movement (e.g., OpenAI hiring a Meta researcher) and high ongoing capex projections (guidance points to elevated 2026 spending) are reminders that competition for talent and costly infrastructure could pressure margins before long?term gains materialize. Reuters: OpenAI hires Meta researcher

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.