Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is AE Wealth Management LLC’s 8th Largest Position

AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 311,172 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,053 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.5% of AE Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $228,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $847.40.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $661.46 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $656.76 and a 200 day moving average of $695.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total value of $369,448.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,870,879. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 39,594 shares of company stock worth $24,325,407 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst & media bullishness around Meta’s AI leadership and product traction reinforces upside potential — commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) highlight Meta’s progress in automating model development, which supports the view that Meta can scale AI more efficiently. Meta Platforms (META) CEO Zuckerberg Has “Figured Out How to Have AI Make AI,” Says Jim Cramer
• Positive Sentiment: Bull case pieces argue Meta is monetizing AI strongly (ad redistribution, Reels engagement, models like Lattice/GEM), underpinning revenue and margins upside if execution continues. Meta: Buy The AI Revolution
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s elevated 2026 capex guide and extension of MTIA from inference to training signal sustained hyperscaler demand for AI infrastructure — positive for long‑term AI revenue capture and for partners/suppliers. Meta Soars After-Hours Forecasting Fastest Growth Since 2021
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional moves: some funds (e.g., First Eagle) trimmed positions while others boosted stakes (Alecta, Davis), reflecting both profit‑taking and conviction — a wash for longer‑term ownership trends. First Eagle Investment Management Trims Meta Platforms Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: ESG/energy moves (new PPA for Skull Creek solar) reduce power/operational risk long‑term but are non‑revenue and increase near‑term capital/contract commitments. Zelestra Expands Relationship with Meta — Skull Creek Solar PPA
• Negative Sentiment: Broad market pressure: a broad Big Tech sell‑off tied to fears of an AI spending bubble has removed over $1 trillion from sector values, pressuring META alongside peers as investors de‑risk. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off
• Negative Sentiment: Sell‑side caution: Needham warns of 10–15% downside citing valuation and capex risk — analyst caution can amplify short‑term selling if investors fear margin pressure from rising AI spend. Why Needham Warns That Meta Platforms Stock Could Be Headed for 10%-15% Downside
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: reports questioning the legality of Meta’s data collection and renewed scrutiny around research/data practices (e.g., Moltbook comparisons to 2017 experiments) raise reputational and compliance concerns in key markets. Why Meta Platforms’ data collection is illegal Moltbook furor reminiscent of 2017 Facebook research experiment
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: small, regular sales by COO Javier Olivan have been disclosed — modest on their own but can feed narratives of near‑term profit taking. SEC Filing – Javier Olivan sale

Meta Platforms 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.