Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,454 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Deals that de‑risk Meta’s AI/data‑center power needs — Meta has signed prepayment/partnership agreements (e.g., Oklo) to secure long‑term baseload energy for its Prometheus supercluster and broader Meta Compute buildout, lowering a major execution risk for its massive data‑center plans. Oklo’s Meta Deal De-Risks the Story—Rebound Setup Emerging
• Positive Sentiment: BofA and other firms show constructive analyst interest — BofA reiterated/maintained a buy stance tied to Meta’s AI infra progress; Rosenblatt and some boutiques have also been positive recently, which can support sentiment if execution continues. BofA Securities Asserts Buy Stance
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware demand signal — reports say Meta is discussing doubling Ray‑Ban Meta glasses output, signaling potential early revenue diversification from AI wearables beyond advertising. Meta mulls doubling output of Ray‑Ban glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta Compute initiative is long‑term strategic but capital intensive — the plan to build “tens/hundreds of gigawatts” of compute capacity underscores AI ambition (control and optionality) but raises timing and ROI questions for investors. Meta Compute: Inside Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center Bet
• Neutral Sentiment: Wikipedia/API partnerships broaden AI training access — Meta joins others to formalize access to Wikipedia content for LLM training; strategic but not an immediate revenue driver. Wikipedia signs AI content training deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Near‑term catalyst: Q4/2025 earnings and 2026 guidance (scheduled Jan. 28) — results and explicit capex/FCF guidance will likely be the primary short‑term driver. Meta to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs headcount cuts (~1,000–1,500 jobs) signal a pullback in metaverse investment — while lowering costs, the layoffs underscore a strategic pivot (and product risk) away from VR, which can unsettle investors focused on long‑term innovation stories. Meta Cuts Reality Labs Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Capex and free‑cash‑flow pressure — analysts and articles highlight materially higher 2026 capex and declining LTM FCF, which has prompted some downgrades and valuation concerns; that pressure can weigh on the stock until FCF trends stabilize. Meta Compute: Capex/FCF analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / high‑profile sales — recent disclosures show COO Javier Olivan has sold blocks of shares; combined with other negative headlines this can amplify short‑term selling pressure. SEC filing: Olivan sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and valuation skepticism — some firms have trimmed targets or expressed caution about the funding intensity and timing of AI monetization, which keeps shares vulnerable to multiple compression. Analyst downgrade reports

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $653.00, for a total value of $337,601.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,291,398. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,571 shares of company stock valued at $25,137,541. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $620.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $641.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $700.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.