Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Institutional stake change: Douglas Lane & Associates cut its Meta holding by 2.8% (sold 2,980 shares), leaving 104,174 shares valued at about $68.8 million, and institutional investors collectively own roughly 79.91% of the company.
• Insider selling activity: Director Robert Kimmitt and COO Javier Olivan sold shares under pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plans (580 shares at ~$667 and 2,778 shares at ~$629.45 respectively), and insiders have sold 165,079 shares (~$105.6M) in the last 90 days while owning 13.61% of the stock.
• Results and outlook are mixed: Meta beat Q results (EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16; revenue $59.89B, +23.8% Y/Y) with a $1.74T market cap and a $2.10 annualized dividend, while optimism from AI partnerships and raised analyst price targets is tempered by reports of ~10% layoffs and European regulatory risks.

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,174 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,980 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $68,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,091,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,079 shares of company stock worth $105,624,755. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $688.55 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $627.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $651.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

More 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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $837.72.

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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