Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,424 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $114,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,667 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $850.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.29.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large multiyear chip deal with NVIDIA — Meta agreed to buy millions of NVIDIA GPUs and adopt NVIDIA CPUs, networking and rack-scale designs, securing chip supply and lowering future latency/costs for its AI data centers; this is the primary driver of today’s upside. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Deepened strategic alliance and codesign roadmap — coverage highlights a multigenerational NVIDIA–Meta pact (Rubin/Vera architectures, confidential computing) that supports Meta’s Personal Superintelligence vision and signals durable hardware demand. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance—and the Spending Numbers Are Enormous
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and bullish hedge-fund activity — high-profile investors (reports about Bill Ackman and David Tepper) have increased exposure to Meta on its AI growth thesis, adding conviction behind the rally. Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Betting Big on AI David Tepper goes big on Micron, Meta and Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware/product roadmap noise — reports that Meta may debut a smartwatch in 2026 and ongoing XR ecosystem moves (third‑party “Made for Meta” partners) suggest product expansion but limited near-term revenue impact. Meta reboots smartwatch plan, aims debut in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior execs — recent filings show substantial share sales by COO Javier Olivan and CFO Susan Li, which can signal portfolio liquidity-taking and add short-term selling pressure. Olivan SEC filing Li SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal overhangs — CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in a high‑profile youth‑addiction trial, Spain is probing AI-generated content on social platforms, and India is discussing age-based curbs; these risks could pressure user growth, ad targeting or incur fines. Zuckerberg faces questioning at youth addiction trial Spain to probe Meta, TikTok, X India discussing age-based restrictions
• Negative Sentiment: Massive CapEx and margin risk — coverage highlights Meta’s elevated 2026 capex plans (reported guidance as high as ~$115–$135B in some writeups), which fuels concern about near‑term margin pressure and capital intensity if AI monetization lags. Marketbeat: NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of META stock opened at $643.22 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $656.60 and a 200 day moving average of $691.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,418 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $4,106,043.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 73,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,924,570.42. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,158 shares of company stock worth $12,992,197. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.