Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Increased by NewEdge Wealth LLC

NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 209,498 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,042 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of NewEdge Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $153,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the third 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 during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 84,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $62,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherokee Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Argus restated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.44.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,789 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.00, for a total transaction of $12,212,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 68,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,777,200. This trade represents a 21.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 48,135 shares of company stock worth $31,063,415 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $656.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $687.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Big AMD AI deal validates Meta’s AI roadmap and diversifies suppliers — Meta agreed to deploy up to ~6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs (a multi‑year, multi‑billion-dollar commitment and potential equity stake), a major catalyst for confidence in Meta’s AI infrastructure strategy. AMD clinches second mega chip supply deal, this time with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell meaningfully in February (down ~16.5%), reducing one source of downward pressure and making squeezes less likely to amplify sell-offs in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reaction is mixed but constructive — some banks (e.g., BofA) see long‑term earnings upside from the AMD tie‑up despite higher capex, while others remain cautious about elevated investment intensity. Meta-AMD AI deal boosts scale but extends high capex cycle, analysts say
• Neutral Sentiment: Policy and operational items could affect costs or timelines — the White House plans talks with Big Tech on data‑center power costs (potentially easing power concerns), and Meta will appear at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference (CFO Susan Li on March 4). White House to host Big Tech in pledge to rein in power costs Meta to Participate in the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/monetization runway: reports that Meta is preparing a stablecoin/payments push in H2 2026 are a longer‑term monetization positive but carry regulatory and execution risk. Meta Hopes to Launch Stablecoin Payments Project This Year
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Susan Li disclosed a large sale (18,789 shares, ~21% reduction at the time) and COO Javier Olivan sold shares recently; such high‑value insider sales can prompt investor concern about executive conviction even if they are often for diversification or taxes. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale SEC filing: Javier Olivan sale
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile investor exit — reports that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller eliminated his fund’s Meta position may weigh on sentiment and be interpreted as a vote of caution by some institutional players. Billionaire Investor Stanley Druckenmiller Eliminated His Fund’s Position in Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational risk from ongoing litigation — court filings about encryption and child‑safety concerns could prompt regulatory scrutiny and headline risk. Meta executive warned Facebook Messenger encryption plan was ‘so irresponsible’

About Meta Platforms

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.