Private Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Meta by 27.5% in Q4 to 48,646 shares valued at $32.11M, making Meta roughly 2.5% of the firm's portfolio and its seventh‑largest holding.
• Meta is accelerating its AI/hardware push — the company launched new Ray‑Ban AI smart‑glasses, partnered with the U.S. VA to scale clinical VR therapy, and hired senior hardware leadership, signaling a drive to grow non‑advertising revenue streams.
• Insider selling and rising risks: insiders sold 161,448 shares (~$103.3M) in the last 90 days, while recent layoffs, court losses and analyst price‑target trims have increased near‑term regulatory and operational uncertainty.

Private Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,646 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 10,480 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.5% of Private Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Private Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $1,191,175,000. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,667 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta's Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat's next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $574.46 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $637.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $660.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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