Synovus Financial Corp Buys 912 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,866 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 209,498 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $153,851,000 after purchasing an additional 10,042 shares in the last quarter. Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $230,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $135,000. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 48,096 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $35,321,000 after buying an additional 10,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Big AMD AI deal validates Meta’s AI roadmap and diversifies suppliers — Meta agreed to deploy up to ~6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs (a multi?year, multi?billion-dollar commitment and potential equity stake), a major catalyst for confidence in Meta’s AI infrastructure strategy. AMD clinches second mega chip supply deal, this time with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell meaningfully in February (down ~16.5%), reducing one source of downward pressure and making squeezes less likely to amplify sell-offs in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reaction is mixed but constructive — some banks (e.g., BofA) see long?term earnings upside from the AMD tie?up despite higher capex, while others remain cautious about elevated investment intensity. Meta-AMD AI deal boosts scale but extends high capex cycle, analysts say
• Neutral Sentiment: Policy and operational items could affect costs or timelines — the White House plans talks with Big Tech on data?center power costs (potentially easing power concerns), and Meta will appear at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference (CFO Susan Li on March 4). White House to host Big Tech in pledge to rein in power costs Meta to Participate in the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/monetization runway: reports that Meta is preparing a stablecoin/payments push in H2 2026 are a longer?term monetization positive but carry regulatory and execution risk. Meta Hopes to Launch Stablecoin Payments Project This Year
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Susan Li disclosed a large sale (18,789 shares, ~21% reduction at the time) and COO Javier Olivan sold shares recently; such high?value insider sales can prompt investor concern about executive conviction even if they are often for diversification or taxes. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale SEC filing: Javier Olivan sale
• Negative Sentiment: High?profile investor exit — reports that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller eliminated his fund’s Meta position may weigh on sentiment and be interpreted as a vote of caution by some institutional players. Billionaire Investor Stanley Druckenmiller Eliminated His Fund’s Position in Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational risk from ongoing litigation — court filings about encryption and child?safety concerns could prompt regulatory scrutiny and headline risk. Meta executive warned Facebook Messenger encryption plan was ‘so irresponsible’

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Three equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total transaction of $370,724.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,374.26. This trade represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 17,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,121,014.52. The trade was a 5.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 48,135 shares of company stock valued at $31,063,415 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $656.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $687.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.