Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,181 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,022 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during 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 last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of META stock opened at $639.77 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $657.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $693.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be 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 is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $307,040.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,413 shares of company stock worth $14,472,032. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research dropped 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. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.50.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: High?profile institutional support: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a multi?billion dollar stake, signaling confidence in Meta’s AI pivot and likely attracting other institutional interest. Ackman stake
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst upside: Q4 earnings beat and bullish analyst notes (multiple price?target raises and buy reiterations) support a constructive medium?term view. Seeking Alpha bullish note
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware and AI investments showing early traction: Ray?Ban AI glasses sales growth and Reality Labs repositioning give optionality beyond ads. Ray?Ban sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (small yield) — positive for income investors but modest versus total return expectations. Dividend PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Large capex for AI: Meta broke ground on a ~$10B data?center campus to boost AI compute — strengthens long?term ad/AI moat but raises near?term capex. Data center Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider/ownership moves mixed: CEO/COO small routine sales and some funds trimming while others add — notable but not a clear directional signal alone. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and reputational risk from facial?recognition plans for Ray?Ban AI glasses: Reports that Meta plans a “Name Tag” feature have triggered renewed privacy concerns and could draw regulatory scrutiny or user backlash. NYT facial recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/access hit: Russia moved to block WhatsApp for ~100M users, a material engagement loss in that market. WhatsApp block
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and litigation noise: Ongoing trials and witness testimony alleging platform harm raise litigation/ reputational risk that can pressure sentiment and potentially cost fines or operational changes. Trial coverage

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.