Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Crystal Rock Capital Management's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Crystal Rock Capital Management trimmed its stake in Meta by 7.9% in Q4 to 28,766 shares (worth about $18.99M), with META making up roughly 10% of its portfolio and serving as its 2nd largest holding.
• Analysts are broadly positive—MarketBeat shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a $837.09 average target—as optimism around an AI-driven ad recovery and infrastructure/AI partnerships supports upside, but China’s veto of the ~$2B Manus deal and potential post-earnings volatility/margin pressures are key near-term risks.
• Institutional ownership is high at 79.91%, while insiders have sold roughly 165,600 shares (~$106M) over the last three months, though corporate insiders still own about 13.61% of the company.

Crystal Rock Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,766 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,465 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 10.0% of Crystal Rock Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Crystal Rock Capital Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $855.00 to $760.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $837.09.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $678.62 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $629.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $648.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total value of $629,763.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,549,946.79. This represents a 8.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 165,600 shares of company stock valued at $106,023,973 over the last three months. Corporate 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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