Ninety One UK Ltd Purchases 316,495 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 373.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,227 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 316,495 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $264,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $837.09.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 165,600 shares of company stock valued at $106,023,973. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $678.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $629.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $648.75. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

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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