Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Has $40.36 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Posted by ABMN Staff on Mar 12th, 2026

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.7% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $40,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,694,644,000 after purchasing an additional 262,550 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $654.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $654.42 and its 200-day moving average is $679.16. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Positive Sentiment: Rolled out a roadmap of four new in‑house AI chips to expand data‑center capacity and cut dependence on third‑party hardware — a move that should lower long‑term costs and support Meta’s AI scale and margins. Meta unveils plans for batch of in-house AI chips
Positive Sentiment: Acquired Moltbook, a viral social network for AI agents, and brought its founders into Meta’s Superintelligence Labs — an inexpensive talent & capability win that reinforces Meta’s AI roadmap and content‑generation/testing capabilities. Meta acquires AI agent social network Moltbook
Positive Sentiment: Launched AI‑powered anti‑scam tools across WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger — a user‑safety boost that can protect engagement and advertiser confidence on its platforms. Meta rolls out new scam detection tools to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger
Neutral Sentiment: Street commentary (Evercore/Barron’s) suggests internet names including META may be oversold after AI worries and geopolitical risk — a catalyst that could attract value buyers but depends on macro sentiment. Amazon, Uber, and Other Internet Stocks Look Too Cheap After AI and Iran Worries
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan sold multiple blocks of shares (hundreds of shares reported), trimming his position — a near‑term negative signal that can weigh on sentiment even if routine. SEC filing: Javier Olivan sales
Negative Sentiment: Announced a 2–5% “location fee” for advertisers to cover some European digital taxes — could pressure ad rates/advertiser spend in affected markets and be a small drag on revenue growth. Meta to charge advertisers a fee to offset Europe’s digital taxes
Negative Sentiment: Dutch appeals court upheld a ruling forcing Meta to offer chronological feeds in the Netherlands — a regulatory loss that could affect engagement/personalization and set precedents for further restrictions. Dutch court upholds ruling forcing Meta to offer chronological feeds

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on META

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.94, for a total value of $587,954.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 15,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,642,833.78. The trade was a 5.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 161,446 shares of company stock worth $103,451,688. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

(Free Report)

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.