Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $41.44 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 99.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,304 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.5% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 61,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,303,000 after buying an additional 10,307 shares during the period. Prosperitas Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 12,012 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,929,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 24,533 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,194,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Rinkey Investments increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Rinkey Investments now owns 1,208 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 8,027 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $607.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $618.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $637.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $510,025.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,933,071. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish takes argue Meta is undervalued relative to its earnings power, with strong profitability, buybacks, and AI investments that could support long-term growth if the company’s spending translates into revenue. Meta Platforms: A Call Option On The AI Race
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI and product rollout efforts remain active, including expanded AI features in WhatsApp and renewed focus on smart glasses, which reinforce its long-term AI and AR strategy. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Expands AI Private Chats and Renewable Energy Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still see upside, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its target while maintaining an Overweight rating, suggesting Wall Street remains constructive on Meta’s AI infrastructure bet. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta settled the first U.S. school-district lawsuit tied to social media addiction, reducing legal overhang for now, though broader litigation risk remains unresolved. Meta settles first US case over school costs tied to youth mental health
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he does not expect more companywide layoffs this year, which may calm employees but is unlikely to materially change the stock’s near-term outlook. Exclusive: Meta CEO tells employees he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also continues to see insider sales and debate around layoffs, but those moves were largely tied to pre-arranged tax-withholding plans and are less likely to be a major market signal. Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s biggest drag remains its aggressive AI spending, with 2026 capex guidance still extremely high and investors questioning whether layoffs will generate enough savings to offset that bill. Meta Platforms 10% Layoff Raises a Bigger Question About AI Spending
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s 10% workforce reduction and related restructuring have raised concerns about morale, execution risk, and whether management is cutting costs fast enough to support AI investments. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing fresh regulatory and legal scrutiny, including EU complaints over handling financial scams and ongoing criticism tied to youth mental-health lawsuits. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

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.