Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,769 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,789 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $72,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after buying an additional 1,016,667 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 209.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 430,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,340,000 after buying an additional 824,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse Spark launch strengthens Meta’s AI narrative — investors see the new LLM as evidence Meta can compete with other big‑model providers and begin monetizing AI via commerce, APIs and ad tools; early analyst support and bullish writeups helped lift shares. Meta’s AI Outlook Brightens With Muse Spark Release
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded $21B CoreWeave deal gives Meta committed AI compute capacity through 2032 — reduces operational risk of running large models, signals scale and continuity for AI roadmaps (though it implies heavy future spending). CoreWeave signs $21 billion AI cloud deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support is improving — CFRA upgraded Meta to Strong Buy and some firms remain constructive on share recovery tied to AI gains, helping sentiment. CFRA Just Upgraded Meta to Strong Buy. The AI Turnaround Story Is Getting Hard to Argue With
• Neutral Sentiment: Street price targets and ratings are mixed — some firms trimmed targets while keeping outperform/buy ratings, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside but concern over valuation and spend. (See recent Wolfe/KeyCorp/Rosenblatt notes.)
• Negative Sentiment: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Meta must face a state lawsuit alleging features were designed to addict teens — the decision increases legal and regulatory risk and could widen damages exposure if similar suits progress. Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit by Massachusetts, court rules
• Negative Sentiment: Meta pulled ads recruiting potential plaintiffs for social‑media addiction suits — a defensive PR/legal move that underscores ongoing litigation pressure and recent adverse jury outcomes. Meta pulls ads aimed at recruiting plaintiffs for social media addiction lawsuits

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,072,742.30. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,931 shares of company stock worth $102,997,526. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $629.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $628.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $654.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm 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 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $838.04.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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