CX Institutional Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 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-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: One bullish analysis argues Meta is attractively priced for a recession scenario, citing 33% year-over-year revenue growth, strong operating margins, and the potential for long-term margin expansion as AI investments drive efficiency. Why Meta Is My Top Pick: Priced For A Recession With Massive Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is testing deeper AI integration in Threads, which could improve engagement and strengthen its product ecosystem over time. Threads tests a Meta AI integration that works similarly to Grok
• Positive Sentiment: Meta offered rival AI chatbots temporary free access to WhatsApp as part of talks with EU antitrust regulators, suggesting the company is actively trying to reduce regulatory friction in Europe. Meta offers rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp month
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discuss Meta’s role in the broader attention economy and compare its platform model with earlier media strategies, but these are not immediate stock catalysts. Ted Turner built the original infinite scroll
• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County filed a lawsuit accusing Meta of profiting from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, adding to concerns about ad quality, moderation, and legal exposure. California county sues Meta over scam ads
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also lost a court fight in Europe over compensation for Italian publishers, reinforcing ongoing regulatory and content-rights risks. Meta loses court fight over compensation to Italian publishers
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh reports and lawsuits alleging scam ads targeting seniors, along with investigations into Meta’s board oversight and privacy/AI practices, could keep sentiment under pressure if they broaden. Meta Faces Fresh Controversy Over Facebook Scam Ads

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $603.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $624.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $642.58. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 167,676 shares of company stock valued at $107,299,848 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.