Advisory Services Network LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 81,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Advisory Services Network LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 15,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,642,833.78. This trade represents a 5.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 159,830 shares of company stock valued at $102,409,190. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Global user engagement is rising — Meta reported ~17% higher total time spent year‑over‑year across its platforms, which supports ad monetization and long‑term revenue growth. InsiderMonkey: User Engagement
• Positive Sentiment: Meta unveiled four MTIA custom AI chips and explicitly confirmed the Broadcom (AVGO) partnership — a move that helps scale inference workloads efficiently and could improve unit economics as GenAI inference rolls out. Meta AI blog: MTIA chips
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and buy‑the‑dip voices remain mixed but constructive — several pieces argue fundamentals (mid‑20% revenue growth last year, high margins) justify buying on weakness; JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight with a high target. Fool: Buy on pullback Finbold: JPMorgan target
• Neutral Sentiment: Smaller partner news (MONAT integration) expands social‑commerce use cases but is unlikely to move Meta’s top‑line materially in the near term. GlobeNewswire: MONAT integration
• Negative Sentiment: Huge AI infrastructure commitments — public reports show Meta has signed supply agreements (up to ~$27B with Nebius and large third‑party commitments) and is planning very large AI‑related CapEx — raising near‑term cash and margin pressure perceptions. CNBC: $27B Nebius deal
• Negative Sentiment: Layoff reports and related uncertainty — multiple outlets cite that Meta is considering cuts up to ~20% of staff to offset AI costs; that spurs short‑term volatility even if intended to improve long‑term efficiency. Reuters: Layoff report CNET: Workforce/AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution risks — reports of delays in Meta’s latest AI model and heightened scrutiny (e.g., China probing the Manus acquisition) increase downside risk and geopolitical/regulatory uncertainty. NYTimes: China scrutiny Fool: AI model delay

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $622.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $651.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $675.20. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.44.

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.