Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 2,947 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,112 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.5% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Threads ad rollout expands immediate ad-monetization optionality for a 400M+ MAU product, supporting near-term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors point to attractive valuation after the pullback (multiple firms reiterating buys and high price targets), encouraging value-oriented buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/tech progress: Meta’s AI lab reportedly delivered its first in-house models, a signal that internal AI capability is advancing and could support future product monetization and efficiency gains. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware/metaverse upside: TD Cowen raised its PT and Meta plans to ramp Meta Glasses production, which supports longer-term diversification of revenue streams. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta suspended teen access to its AI characters globally while it builds a teen-specific version — a precautionary move that reduces regulatory/PR risk but could slow feature engagement and short-term monetization from those users. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings (Jan. 28) and especially 2026 CapEx guidance are the primary near-term catalysts — strong revenue/AI updates could lift shares, while higher-than-expected CapEx would likely pressure the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: COO Javier Oliván’s routine share sales continue to be disclosed; amounts are modest relative to his holdings and the company, so impact is limited. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: UK regulator Ofcom opened an investigation into Meta’s responsiveness on WhatsApp data requests, increasing compliance uncertainty in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: Meta is contesting evidence limits ahead of a New Mexico child-safety trial — unfavorable rulings or negative publicity could weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Some firms have trimmed price targets (Stifel cut its PT; UBS trimmed earlier), reflecting sensitivity to guidance and spending — these moves can cap near-term upside if guidance disappoints. Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $608.35, for a total transaction of $314,516.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,478,319.15. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at $3,454,330.36. This trade represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,632 shares of company stock worth $25,055,572 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of META opened at $658.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $642.15 and its 200 day moving average is $696.99. 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 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $818.57.

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.