Albion Financial Group UT lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,440 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 992 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $855.00 to $760.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $837.72.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,414 shares of company stock worth $102,659,925 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

META stock opened at $634.53 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $627.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $652.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry forecasts say Meta could overtake Google as the world’s largest digital-ad company in 2026, boosting revenue growth expectations and advertiser leverage. Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time, report says
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI model (Muse Spark) launch is being cited as a key catalyst — investors see product differentiation, ad targeting improvements and longer-term monetization upside from AI investments. Meta Platforms Finally Releases Muse Spark. Is the AI Model Worth the Wait?
• Positive Sentiment: Unity extended a multi-year platform support and enterprise agreement with Meta, reinforcing VR/AR partnerships that support long-term Metaverse/Reality Labs opportunities. Unity and Meta Extend Multi-Year Platform Support and Enterprise Agreement
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta will report Q1 2026 results after the market close on April 29; upcoming guidance and ad/AI metrics will likely drive near-term volatility. Meta to Announce First Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail/investor attention is elevated (search and coverage spikes), which can amplify moves around earnings and sector news. Investors Heavily Search Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts trimmed price targets (Stifel, Wolfe, KeyCorp), which can cap upside and signal more cautious near-term expectations despite buy ratings. Stifel Nicolaus lowers META price target
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure: the Philippines and U.S. state attorneys general have pushed Meta to curb panic-inducing or scam content, creating potential compliance costs and reputational risk. Philippines Orders Meta to Tighten Measures Against ‘Panic-Inducing’ Fake News NY AG warns of social media investment scams on Meta platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is developing a photoreal AI “clone” of CEO Mark Zuckerberg for staff interactions raise privacy and governance concerns that could attract scrutiny. Meta is building a creepy AI clone of Mark Zuckerberg to chat with staff: report

Meta Platforms Company 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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This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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