Davies Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 1,105 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Davies Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.7% of Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Davies Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 11,019 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,274,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Partners raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 4,607 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Ticino Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $1,138,000. Breachway Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $439,000. Finally, Michael Brady & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $525,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat & AI ad momentum — Meta reported robust Q1 revenue and EPS, and management highlighted AI-driven ad tools and full‑stack model+chip co‑design that are expanding ad automation and advertiser reach. Meta Does Things Their Own Way
• Positive Sentiment: Robotics/AI talent add — Meta acquired humanoid‑robot startup Assured Robot Intelligence to accelerate robotics model optimization, signaling product diversification in AI/robotics. WSJ: Meta Acquires Assured Robot Intelligence
• Positive Sentiment: Energy and creator initiatives — Meta is signing energy partnerships (space solar/long‑duration storage) to secure power for compute-heavy AI centers and piloting stablecoin creator payouts — moves that support long‑term AI scale and monetization. AI drives growth (context)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions mixed — Some firms (e.g., Stifel) trimmed price targets but retained “buy”; others raised targets on longer‑term AI upside. These tweaks sustain divergent Wall Street views on valuation vs. heavy CapEx. Benzinga: Analyst Moves
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan; routine but notable given market noise. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Large CapEx raise spooks investors — Meta lifted 2026 capital expenditure guidance materially (now targeting major AI data‑center buildout), prompting concerns about near‑term free‑cash‑flow and returns; that is the primary reason the stock has been sold. Reuters: CapEx & market reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal pressure — Threats to pull apps from New Mexico over child‑safety rules and US senators’ scrutiny over ad removals amplify litigation/compliance risk and potential costs. Reuters: Lawmaker Scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs losses & deal setbacks — Continued multi‑billion losses in Reality Labs and a blocked Manus acquisition in China highlight near‑term cash drag and execution risks on speculative bets. CNBC: Reality Labs Loss

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total transaction of $421,958.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 2,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,232.48. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% 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 sold a total of 167,155 shares of company stock valued at $107,067,129 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $608.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $629.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $648.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.67.

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.