Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co of the South boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta’s Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat’s next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Arete Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $574.46 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average is $637.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $659.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.