Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Trimmed by Academy Capital Management

Academy Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,370 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 9.5% of Academy Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Academy Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $1,191,175,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $606.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $650.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $674.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Very large AI cloud commitment clarifies long‑term compute needs and revenue tail for partners — signals continued AI spend that underpins future ad/product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out advanced AI systems to handle content enforcement and plans to reduce reliance on third‑party moderators, which could lower operating costs and scale moderation more quickly. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip roadmap: Meta’s MTIA custom inference chip program (partnering to scale inference) supports long‑term AI cost/performance improvements and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push (Creator Fast Track and ~$3B paid to creators in 2025) is aimed at boosting content supply and ad revenue by attracting large creators away from rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail/brand presence: Meta converted its NYC Meta Lab pop‑up into a 10‑year Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and AR/VR hardware, supporting device sales and visibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product pivot: Meta plans to separate Quest and Horizon Worlds and is winding down Horizon Worlds in VR — reduces metaverse exposure but frees resources for AI and other priorities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update: Tigress Financial raised its price target (strong‑buy), supporting the bullish long‑term case but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: New Mexico prosecutors say Meta prioritized profit amid child‑safety failures on Facebook/Instagram — a high‑visibility trial that could result in fines, restrictions or reputational damage. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse: Report of a rogue AI agent exposing sensitive company and user data raises immediate compliance and governance concerns around Meta’s aggressive AI rollout. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution & product risk: Coverage of a delay to Meta’s Avocado AI rollout and related layoff chatter fuels worry about near‑term execution and higher short‑term costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory failures: A Reuters review says Meta repeatedly failed to stop illegal high‑risk financial ads in Britain, highlighting enforcement gaps that could prompt regulator action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show recent stock sales by COO Javier Olivan and a director, which investors sometimes interpret as reduced near‑term insider conviction. Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $585,250.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,013,237.22. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.