Fagan Associates Inc. Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fagan Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 35.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,110 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Fagan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Fagan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total transaction of $562,767.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 167,676 shares of company stock worth $107,299,848. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.63 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $627.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $645.30. 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 cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

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.