Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Perennial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Perennial Advisors LLC increased its Meta stake by 9.7% in Q4 to 17,949 shares (worth $11.85M), making META its 14th-largest holding at about 2.0% of the firm's portfolio.
• Meta delivered an earnings beat (Q EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16 expected; revenue $59.89B, up 23.8%), and Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $846.63 as several brokers raised targets.
• Near-term headwinds include recent adverse jury verdicts, significant insider selling and heavy AI capex that have fueled a tech selloff, even as institutional ownership remains high (~80%).

Perennial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,949 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Perennial Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,856 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,467,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Farrell Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Farrell Financial LLC now owns 326 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 9,996 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,598,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Shira Ridge Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 1,999 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,649 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on META. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $872.00 target price (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $525.72 on Friday. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $643.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $667.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 162,484 shares of company stock valued at $104,015,906. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Entergy revised its Louisiana data-center deal with Meta so Meta will pay full cost-of-service and fund local energy upgrades (including seven natural‑gas plants), reducing project/regulatory risk for the hyperscale build. Entergy revised Meta data-center deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑the‑news rhetoric has created value opportunities: analysts point to cheaper valuation metrics and upgraded EPS forecasts, with commentators highlighting potential cost-savings from restructuring. Meta Platforms: Lean Into The Fear (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively doubling down on AI infrastructure (Arm CPU initiative, large new data‑center programs) — a long‑term strategic positive for AI monetization but a near‑term cash drain that fuels investor uncertainty. Meta deepens AI strategy with new Arm CPU initiative (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid its first 2026 dividend ($0.525/share) — a modest income signal to investors but not material to the valuation story. Meta paid dividend (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent jury verdicts (including a $375M award and punitive damages from a social‑media addiction case) have raised the prospect of broader legal liability, regulatory changes and appeals that could increase future costs and compliance expenses. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Meta joins a tech selloff this week (Nasdaq weakness), with share price declines of double‑digit percentages from recent highs as investors factor in litigation risk and margin pressure from AI capex. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets report steep intraday drops and heavy option activity as traders reposition; headlines argue the verdicts could trigger follow‑on litigation or regulatory remedies that resemble a “Big Tobacco”‑style reckoning. Meta stock plunges after lawsuit defeats (Blockonomi)

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.