Maridea Wealth Management LLC Has $6.53 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Maridea Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,896 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of Maridea Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Maridea Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Co of the South grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $585,250.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,261 shares in the company, valued at $9,013,237.22. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 160,929 shares of company stock worth $103,074,540 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $592.92 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $647.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $670.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms 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.