Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Hennion & Walsh increased its stake in Meta by 4.9% in Q4 to 19,595 shares valued at $12.93 million, and overall institutional investors (hedge funds etc.) own about 79.91% of the stock.
• Insiders sold heavily last quarter — 161,448 shares worth $103.33 million were sold, including transactions by Director Robert M. Kimmitt and COO Javier Olivan, reducing their holdings.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive with an average target of $843.57 and mostly Buy/Strong Buy ratings; Meta also beat Q4 estimates (EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16) and recently initiated a $0.525 quarterly dividend ($2.10 annualized).

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,595 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 907 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $38,373,000 after acquiring an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $25,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $843.57.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $574.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $637.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $660.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 $0.525 dividend. 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 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta's Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat's next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

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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