Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $132,015,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results and analyst bullishness — Meta’s Q1 beat has prompted price-target lifts and buy reaffirmations (BofA raised its target; other outlets highlight Meta among top earnings-beat winners), supporting the rally on optimism about ad monetization and AI-driven product momentum. Here is Why Meta Platforms (META) is Among the 10 Must-Buy Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying — Fisher Asset Management added ~75,590 shares, a signal of confidence from a major manager that can support sentiment and reduce downside near-term. Fisher Asset Management Boosts Meta Stake
• Positive Sentiment: Product & AI roadmap — Reports that Meta is building advanced, consumer-facing “agentic” AI assistants and other AI tools reinforce expectations for future ad/product monetization and long-term TAM expansion. Investors often reward visible AI roadmaps despite near-term spending. Meta plans advanced ‘agentic’ AI assistant
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target tweak — Mizuho trimmed its price target slightly (still an outperform rating), a modest technical adjustment that partly offsets other bullish analyst moves but leaves overall street conviction intact. Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright lawsuits — Major publishers have sued Meta alleging unauthorized use of books/journals to train Llama; litigation could lead to damages, higher legal costs, or operational constraints on training data. Publishers sue Meta over AI training
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal headwinds — EU probes over algorithmic influence and a California court fight over alleged social-media harm, plus EU antitrust pressure on WhatsApp access, raise uncertainty and potential compliance costs. Meta asks judge to throw out landmark verdict
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a 10b5?1 plan; while pre-arranged, repeated insider sales get noticed and can add short-term pressure. SEC filing: Insider sale

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $612.88 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $628.12 and a 200 day moving average of $646.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total transaction of $562,767.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.