Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,281 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $8,713,000. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. DKM Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. DKM Wealth Management Inc. now owns 654 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Tlwm now owns 4,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,766,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RoundAngle Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC now owns 2,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,776,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.0%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $525.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $643.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $667.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.30. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,742.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,484 shares of company stock worth $104,015,906. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Entergy revised its Louisiana data-center deal with Meta so Meta will pay full cost-of-service and fund local energy upgrades (including seven natural‑gas plants), reducing project/regulatory risk for the hyperscale build. Entergy revised Meta data-center deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑the‑news rhetoric has created value opportunities: analysts point to cheaper valuation metrics and upgraded EPS forecasts, with commentators highlighting potential cost-savings from restructuring. Meta Platforms: Lean Into The Fear (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively doubling down on AI infrastructure (Arm CPU initiative, large new data‑center programs) — a long‑term strategic positive for AI monetization but a near‑term cash drain that fuels investor uncertainty. Meta deepens AI strategy with new Arm CPU initiative (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid its first 2026 dividend ($0.525/share) — a modest income signal to investors but not material to the valuation story. Meta paid dividend (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent jury verdicts (including a $375M award and punitive damages from a social‑media addiction case) have raised the prospect of broader legal liability, regulatory changes and appeals that could increase future costs and compliance expenses. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Meta joins a tech selloff this week (Nasdaq weakness), with share price declines of double‑digit percentages from recent highs as investors factor in litigation risk and margin pressure from AI capex. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets report steep intraday drops and heavy option activity as traders reposition; headlines argue the verdicts could trigger follow‑on litigation or regulatory remedies that resemble a “Big Tobacco”‑style reckoning. Meta stock plunges after lawsuit defeats (Blockonomi)

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.