Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock: Obermeyer Wealth Partners Increases Holdings

Key Points

• Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2.1% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 81,627 shares valued at approximately $59.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.12. The latest quarter exceeded expectations, with $7.40 in adjusted earnings per share and $64.6 billion in revenue, up 26.1% year over year.
• Insiders have continued selling shares, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s sale of 27,474 shares for about $21.4 million; insiders sold 148,440 shares worth roughly $101.5 million over the past three months.

Obermeyer Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,627 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Obermeyer Wealth Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Obermeyer Wealth Partners' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,957,946,000 after buying an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $886.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $955.00 to $855.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $875.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,440 shares of company stock valued at $101,456,300. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure, proprietary models, personal “superintelligence,” AI assistants such as Muse, and smart glasses. Analysts say the spending could accelerate new product launches and create additional monetization opportunities. Meta's $95 Billion AI Push Could Accelerate New Product Launches
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish, citing Meta’s strong advertising business, user engagement, international revenue growth and relatively low valuation. The company recently reported quarterly revenue of $64.6 billion, up 26% year over year, while earnings exceeded expectations. Analysts Stand by Meta's AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: Investors could eventually benefit if AI improves ad targeting, engagement and new product revenue. Some research argues that Meta’s core Family of Apps business remains attractively valued despite current AI and Reality Labs losses. Meta Platforms: Muse May Be Metaverse 2.0
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced approximately $35 billion of equity offerings and plans to raise as much as $95 billion overall, including up to $60 billion through an at-the-market program involving new nonvoting Class C shares. The proceeds are intended to fund AI infrastructure and long-term growth. Meta Announces $95 Billion Stock Offering
• Neutral Sentiment: The financing plan includes a new share class and a mandatory convertible preferred offering that could carry a 6%–6.5% dividend yield, changing Meta’s capital structure while limiting immediate cash funding needs. The New Meta Convertible Stock Offering
• Negative Sentiment: The planned stock issuance creates dilution risk and signals that Meta’s AI buildout will require substantial external capital. Investors are also concerned that aggressive spending could compress margins and weaken free cash flow before AI investments generate returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s elevated capital-expenditure outlook, combined with a reported $9.89 billion legal charge, has intensified concerns about near-term earnings quality, cash flow and execution risk. Meta Q3 Legal Charge and Capital Expenditures

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $630.56 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $664.68 and its 200 day moving average is $632.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $779.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.86 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.16%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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