CGN Advisors LLC Has $7.05 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

CGN Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,686 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares in the last quarter. Cherokee Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,321,000. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.66 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $649.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $673.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.