Vanderbilt University Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Vanderbilt University boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,089 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Vanderbilt University’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third 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. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $872.00 target price (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $837.72.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multi?year partnership with Broadcom to support its custom training and inference chips (MTIA), including a commitment around one gigawatt of infrastructure through 2029 — a material long?term capex/AI-infrastructure win that underpins scaling of Meta’s AI services. Meta inks deal with Broadcom for custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Industry data (eMarketer/WSJ coverage) projects Meta will surpass Google in global digital ad net revenue this year — a bullish signal for advertising growth, pricing power and near?term revenue outlook. Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time, report says
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage coverage is broadly constructive — consensus is an average “Moderate Buy,” supporting investor confidence even amid volatility. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is developing an AI “replica” of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to interact with employees — an internal efficiency/innovation story that is getting press attention but has limited immediate revenue impact. Meta Platforms Is Building a Mark Zuckerberg AI Bot. Does That Matter for META Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta set to report Q1 results after the close on April 29 — an upcoming catalyst that could amplify moves in either direction depending on ad strength and AI spend commentary. Meta to Announce First Quarter 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: An Italian court allowed a class action over Facebook data scraping, raising regulatory/legal risk and potential litigation exposure in Europe. Italy court allows class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts have trimmed price targets and voiced caution — Stifel issued a more pessimistic forecast and other outlets reported cuts to targets — which can cap upside until earnings and guidance clarify ad trends. Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets noted a notable downward revision to price targets amid volatility, a reminder valuations are being re?priced into near?term expectations despite strong recent returns. Meta Platforms (META) Price Target Reduced by $95 Amid Market Volatility

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $662.36 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $626.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $651.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,414 shares of company stock worth $102,659,925. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.