NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Purchases 3,157 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,034 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,157 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: CTO Andrew Bosworth will lead Meta’s “AI for Work” initiatives, signaling a top-down push to embed AI across operations that could improve productivity and long-term margins. Meta Names New Leader of Company’s Efforts To Become AI Native
• Positive Sentiment: Meta hired the Dreamer team to scale personalized AI agents, strengthening its talent and product roadmap for agentic AI — a strategic move that supports future ad/product monetization. Meta Recruits Dreamer Team to Scale Personalized AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is building in-house AI infrastructure (custom MTIA chips and optical interconnect work) to lower long-term AI costs and secure supply — a step that could expand gross margins as GenAI demand grows. Meta’s Custom AI Chips And Optical Links Reframe Long Term Margins
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group upgraded META to Buy, citing AI investments and pricing power — a supportive analyst signal that may attract some buyers despite near-term volatility. Erste Group Upgrades Meta (META) to Buy, Highlights the Company’s AI Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is experimenting with internal CEO/exec AI agents and paying creators to boost engagement — these are strategic experiments that could help product engagement but are not guaranteed to move near-term revenue. Meta Will Pay Influencers Up to $3,000/Month to Post on Facebook
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures in the feed appear inconsistent/zero and are not providing clear bearish pressure today (data unreliable).
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled consumers and failed to protect minors from predators — a significant legal loss that raises potential damages exposure, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk; a separate Los Angeles trial remains unresolved and could add further liability. Meta Ordered to Pay $375 Million Over Child Safety Violations
• Negative Sentiment: Additional legal pressure: a lawsuit alleges Meta targeted older workers in layoffs — another potential litigation headline that can add to near-term uncertainty. Lawsuit Claims Meta Platforms Targeted Older Workers in Layoffs

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,929 shares of company stock worth $103,074,540 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $592.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $647.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $670.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. 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 presently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.