HCR Wealth Advisors Buys 851 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,378 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.3% of HCR Wealth Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. HCR Wealth Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 165,600 shares of company stock worth $106,023,973. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven ad thesis and upbeat Q1 outlook — analysts and bullish commentators say Meta’s ad revenue is being re-accelerated by AI improvements, and some expect another beat-and-raise around the April 29 results, supporting upside for shares. Meta Q1: AI Ad Thesis Getting Stronger
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic infrastructure partnerships — Meta signed a pact with Overview Energy for space-based solar to power data centers (longer-term operational/energy advantage) and a multi-year partnership with CBRE to train fiber technicians, both reinforcing infrastructure and cost/scale plans. Meta partners with space startup Overview Energy to secure solar power for data centers Meta Platforms (META) Partners With CBRE to Train Fiber Technicians
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial AI partnerships with cloud providers — broader coverage of AI partnerships (including reports that AWS and others are working with AI players) underscores demand for Meta’s AI-driven products and ad monetization potential. Amazon Is About to Report Q1 Earnings. Do Options Traders Expect a Major Move in AMZN Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Big Tech earnings theme — the upcoming Magnificent Seven reports (including Meta) are being framed around AI monetization and cloud demand; this macro narrative can lift or pressure META depending on actual ad/cloud signals. Big Tech faces key earnings test on AI spending and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional interest — Meta appears on several “top buy” lists and remains heavily held by hedge funds, which supports liquidity but can increase volatility around earnings. 5 Best Big Name Stocks to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: China blocks Manus acquisition — Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its ~$2B purchase of Manus, a setback for Meta’s agentic-AI capability buildout and a reminder of geopolitical risk in cross-border AI deals; this is the biggest immediate negative catalyst. China vetoes Meta's $2B Manus deal after months-long probe
• Negative Sentiment: Options/volatility and margin concerns — some observers warn that heavy bullish options positioning and rising AI-related spending (Reality Labs and infra/CapEx) leave META exposed to a post-earnings volatility collapse or margin-pressure-driven pullback. Meta's Stock May Plunge Following Results Buy, Sell or Hold Meta Platforms Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q1 Earnings

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $872.00 to $908.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $837.09.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $678.62 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $629.12 and its 200-day moving average is $648.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.

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