Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Fisher Funds Management LTD

Key Points

• Fisher Funds Management LTD boosted its stake in Meta by 49.7% in Q4, buying 59,245 shares to hold 178,531 shares worth about $118.0 million, making META 3.1% of the fund and its fourth-largest position.
• Meta beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $8.88 vs. $8.16 and revenue of $59.89 billion (up 23.8% YoY), posting a ~30.1% net margin and receiving continued analyst support.
• Strategically, Meta signed a multiyear deal to deploy AWS Graviton5 cores for AI workloads and announced plans to cut ~10% of its workforce and freeze hiring to fund AI investments, though insider sales and employee morale concerns could be near-term headwinds.

Fisher Funds Management LTD lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,531 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 59,245 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.1% of Fisher Funds Management LTD's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Fisher Funds Management LTD's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $118,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $675.50 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. 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 fifty day moving average of $628.34 and a 200-day moving average of $649.13.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta signed a multiyear, multibillion-dollar agreement to deploy tens of millions of AWS Graviton5 cores to power its agentic AI workloads — investors view this as a scalable, cost-efficient way to boost AI capacity and cut future capex risk. Meta strikes deal with Amazon's cloud unit to use its CPU chips
• Positive Sentiment: Management announced plans to cut ~10% of the workforce (~8,000 roles) and freeze hiring for ~6,000 openings to "run more efficiently" and offset AI investments — a move markets often reward when paired with heavy AI capex. Meta will cut 10% of workforce as it pushes more into AI
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and buy-side interest (price-target upgrades and bullish notes on AI-driven ad monetization) are reinforcing the upside narrative around revenue and margins. Guggenheim reaffirms buy and sets $850 target
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales by the COO were disclosed (executed under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan) — routine but noted by traders watching insider activity. SEC filing: Javier Olivan insider sales
• Negative Sentiment: Staff reactions describe weeks of limbo and morale damage ("28 days of hell") ahead of the May cuts, raising execution and product-risk concerns if key teams are disrupted. Meta employees react to pending job cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is tracking employee keystrokes and web usage to train AI models raise privacy/ethical questions and potential regulatory scrutiny that could create reputational or legal costs. Meta is tracking employee usage for AI training
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal/ESG pressures (court rulings, shareholder proposals on human rights and AI energy/climate impacts) remain a medium-term headwind for sentiment and could spur additional disclosures or costs. Meta faces new ESG pressures

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business's 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. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 165,600 shares of company stock valued at $106,023,973 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.09.

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.

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