Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lowered by Cape Investment Advisory Inc.

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,815 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.8% of Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $593.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $649.23 and its 200-day moving average is $673.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. 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 earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

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.