Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Obermeyer Wealth Partners

Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,627 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Obermeyer Wealth Partners’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,230,426,000 after buying an additional 162,909 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,964,745,000 after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (down from $850.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $885.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $630.56 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $664.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $632.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.16%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, proprietary models, personal “superintelligence,” AI assistants such as Muse, and smart glasses. Analysts say the spending could accelerate new product launches and create additional monetization opportunities. Meta’s $95 Billion AI Push Could Accelerate New Product Launches
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish, citing Meta’s strong advertising business, user engagement, international revenue growth and relatively low valuation. The company recently reported quarterly revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26% year over year, while earnings exceeded expectations. Analysts Stand by Meta’s AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: Investors could eventually benefit if AI improves ad targeting, engagement and new product revenue. Some research argues that Meta’s core Family of Apps business remains attractively valued despite current AI and Reality Labs losses. Meta Platforms: Muse May Be Metaverse 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced approximately $35 billion of equity offerings and plans to raise as much as $95 billion overall, including up to $60 billion through an at-the-market program involving new nonvoting Class C shares. The proceeds are intended to fund AI infrastructure and long-term growth. Meta Announces $95 Billion Stock Offering
• Neutral Sentiment: The financing plan includes a new share class and a mandatory convertible preferred offering that could carry a 6%–6.5% dividend yield, changing Meta’s capital structure while limiting immediate cash funding needs. The New Meta Convertible Stock Offering
• Negative Sentiment: The planned stock issuance creates dilution risk and signals that Meta’s AI buildout will require substantial external capital. Investors are also concerned that aggressive spending could compress margins and weaken free cash flow before AI investments generate returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s elevated capital-expenditure outlook, combined with a reported $9.89 billion legal charge, has intensified concerns about near-term earnings quality, cash flow and execution risk. Meta Q3 Legal Charge and Capital Expenditures

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $707.20, for a total transaction of $669,011.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,233,299.20. The trade was a 13.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 148,440 shares of company stock worth $101,456,300 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.