PFG Advisors Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• PFG Advisors increased its Meta stake by 118.9% in Q4, owning 22,238 shares (worth $14.679 million), which represents about 0.7% of the firm's portfolio and is its 25th largest holding.
• Meta beat Q1 estimates (EPS $10.44 vs. $6.67; revenue $56.31B, +33%), showing ad strength and early AI monetization, but the company’s sharply higher 2026 capex guidance (~$125–$145B) and reports it may seek $20–$25B in bonds have spooked investors.
• Insiders have sold heavily recently (CFO sold 56,571 shares; insiders sold ~167,155 shares worth ~$107M in 90 days) while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target around $841.26.

PFG Advisors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 118.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,238 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 12,079 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.7% of PFG Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. PFG Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the third 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $841.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $611.91 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average is $629.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $648.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 38.83%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 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, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 167,155 shares of company stock valued at $107,067,129. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings & ad momentum — Meta beat Q1 revenue and EPS expectations (revenue ~$56.3B; EPS well above consensus), showing robust ad demand and early AI monetization that supports long-term revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI product traction — Meta says its Business AI now handles ~10 million conversations per week, evidence that AI features are being adopted and could drive new ad/enterprise revenue streams. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New monetization moves — Pilot to pay creators in USDC and partnerships to secure energy for data centers signal diversification of payments and longer-term infrastructure planning. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan; typical disclosure but watched by investors for signal. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Massive capex raise — Meta raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance sharply (now ~$125B–$145B), triggering concerns about near-term free cash flow, funding needs and the payback timeline on multiyear AI infrastructure spending. Investors pitched the stock down on this news. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction vs peers — Investors rewarded Alphabet’s AI strategy but punished Meta for the scale and funding model of its AI spend (no cloud cushion), widening the gap in market confidence. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Funding & financing signals — Reports that Meta is exploring a $20–$25B investment-grade bond sale to fund AI expansion add to investor worry about higher leverage and dilution of near-term cash returns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost cuts + job risk — Management told staff that layoffs are tied to capex priorities and did not rule out further cuts, underscoring reallocation toward AI at the expense of labor and short-term execution risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal exposure — EU Digital Services Act charges over under‑13 users and a New Mexico AG standoff on age verification raise the possibility of fines, restrictions or costly compliance measures. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Loss-making bets & M&A headwinds — Reality Labs reported another multi‑billion operating loss and Meta faces pushback/unwinding of deals (Manus acquisition), highlighting high-cost bets with uncertain returns. Read More. Read More.

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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