Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $54.31 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Howard Capital trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.4% in Q4 to 82,270 shares worth $54.31 million, making Meta about 0.6% of the fund's portfolio and its 25th largest holding.
• Meta beat quarterly expectations, reporting $8.88 EPS vs. $8.16 est. and $59.89B revenue (up 23.8% YoY); the company has a $1.74 trillion market cap and recently began a $0.525 quarterly dividend ($2.10 annualized, ~0.3% yield).
• Newsflow is mixed: expanded AI infrastructure partnerships and raised analyst price targets support upside, while planned ~10% layoffs and EU regulatory scrutiny of WhatsApp AI access pose near‑term risks.

Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,270 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,604 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of Howard Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $688.55 on Monday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $627.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $650.79. The company has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. 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 currently 8.94%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded AI partnerships and infrastructure deals boost revenue/AI roadmap visibility — Meta deepened and extended its Broadcom AI‑chip relationship (scaling capacity through 2029), supporting faster AI feature rollout and higher ad/engagement monetization potential. Meta Platforms Taps AVGO for AI Expansion: Buy or Hold META Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Large capacity commitments to CoreWeave underline sizable, long‑dated AI infrastructure spending that supports Meta’s compute roadmap and revenue mix. This signals durable demand for Meta’s AI stack and gives investors visibility on AI spend scale. CoreWeave's April Shockwave — Meta, Anthropic, Jane Street All Say Yes
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: TD Cowen reiterated a buy and assigned a high $820 price target, which can drive positive sentiment and flows into the stock. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware pricing update: Meta will raise U.S. prices for Quest VR headsets to offset rising component costs — a margin/profitability mix impact that’s ambiguous for top‑line growth. Meta to raise Quest VR headset prices in US on rising component costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plan (disclosed SEC filing) — routine but noted by traders as liquidity/positioning data. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Reputation/regulatory watch: Reports of AI‑generated fake influencer accounts across platforms (TikTok/Instagram/Facebook) add moderation and policy risk, but near‑term financial impact is uncertain. Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media
• Negative Sentiment: Major layoffs planned: Reuters reports Meta will cut roughly 10% of its global workforce (~8,000 jobs) in an initial wave targeted for May 20, with additional rounds later in 2026. That reduces near‑term operating costs but raises execution, morale and product roadmap risk; markets often react variably to large cuts. Exclusive: Meta targets May 20 for first wave of layoffs; additional cuts later in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in Europe: The European Commission is considering interim measures to force WhatsApp policy rollbacks that could limit how third‑party AI services access WhatsApp Business — a potential hit to monetization plans in a key market. European Action On WhatsApp AI Access Tests Meta’s Monetization Plans

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 165,079 shares of company stock valued at $105,624,755 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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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