Weaver Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,196 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.1% of Weaver Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,597,374,000 after buying an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,619,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,001,772,000 after buying an additional 481,276 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of META opened at $676.87 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $626.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $652.21. 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 market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.31. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Arete Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $837.72.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed a Buy on META and set an $820 price target, implying material upside versus current levels — a clear analyst endorsement that can support buying interest. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its multi‑year AI chip partnership with Broadcom (initial commitment >1 GW of custom silicon capacity through 2029) — this lowers long‑term supply risk for Meta’s AI training/inference stack and supports margin/scale improvements for ad and AI services. Meta, Broadcom strike multi-year AI chip deal
• Positive Sentiment: CoreWeave announced a major expansion of its partnership with Meta and said Meta added roughly $21 billion in new commitments through 2032 — signals large, multi‑year capital spend backing Meta’s AI compute needs and ecosystem strength. CoreWeave’s April Shockwave — Meta, Anthropic, Jane Street All Say Yes
• Positive Sentiment: Sell‑side bulls remain active: Morgan Stanley named META a top tech pick with a $775 target and other analyst commentary highlights Meta’s fast‑improving ad performance driven by AI enhancements — supports upside expectations ahead of future quarters. Meta Stock Is the Top Pick for Tech Earnings, Morgan Stanley Says. Here’s Why.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta said it will raise Quest VR headset prices in the U.S. from April 19 citing higher memory‑chip costs — product pricing may protect margins but could weigh on device demand. Meta to raise Quest VR headset prices in US on rising component costs
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan (disclosed SEC filing) — routine windowed selling reduces headlines risk versus opportunistic insider selling. SEC Insider Filing
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are preparing interim measures and have ordered Meta to reinstate prior WhatsApp access terms for rival AI services after Meta imposed an access fee — a direct risk to WhatsApp Business monetization plans in Europe and a regulatory headwind for AI distribution. EU warns Meta WhatsApp AI fee breaches antitrust rules, orders rollback
• Negative Sentiment: Additional EU coverage notes the Commission may force Meta to restore earlier WhatsApp terms for AI integrations — continued regulatory scrutiny raises uncertainty around how Meta can commercialize WhatsApp for AI partners. European Action On WhatsApp AI Access Tests Meta’s Monetization Plans

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 164,499 shares of company stock valued at $105,237,895 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.