Palacios Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Palacios Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,078 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 866 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.4% of Palacios Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Palacios Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $639.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $657.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $693.34.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile institutional support: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a multi‑billion dollar stake, signaling confidence in Meta’s AI pivot and likely attracting other institutional interest. Ackman stake
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst upside: Q4 earnings beat and bullish analyst notes (multiple price‑target raises and buy reiterations) support a constructive medium‑term view. Seeking Alpha bullish note
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware and AI investments showing early traction: Ray‑Ban AI glasses sales growth and Reality Labs repositioning give optionality beyond ads. Ray‑Ban sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (small yield) — positive for income investors but modest versus total return expectations. Dividend PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Large capex for AI: Meta broke ground on a ~$10B data‑center campus to boost AI compute — strengthens long‑term ad/AI moat but raises near‑term capex. Data center Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider/ownership moves mixed: CEO/COO small routine sales and some funds trimming while others add — notable but not a clear directional signal alone. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and reputational risk from facial‑recognition plans for Ray‑Ban AI glasses: Reports that Meta plans a “Name Tag” feature have triggered renewed privacy concerns and could draw regulatory scrutiny or user backlash. NYT facial recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/access hit: Russia moved to block WhatsApp for ~100M users, a material engagement loss in that market. WhatsApp block
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and litigation noise: Ongoing trials and witness testimony alleging platform harm raise litigation/ reputational risk that can pressure sentiment and potentially cost fines or operational changes. Trial coverage

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $307,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,487,699.60. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,413 shares of company stock worth $14,472,032 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.