Romano Brothers AND Company Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in Meta by 27.2% to 5,142 shares valued at $3.394 million, while institutional investors collectively own about 79.91% of the stock.
• Meta beat Q4 expectations with $8.88 EPS versus $8.16 expected and revenue of $59.89 billion (up 23.8% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 (0.4% yield).
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $845.54 amid product and AI catalysts (new smart glasses, data‑center buildouts), but legal/regulatory setbacks and recent layoffs pose material downside risks.

Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,142 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $38,373,000 after acquiring an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $25,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $872.00 price objective (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $885.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $572.13 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $641.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $663.23. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The business's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched new Ray‑Ban prescription smart glasses and Oakley updates that add hands‑free features (nutrition logging, real‑time translation), reinforcing growth prospects for Reality Labs and consumer AR wearables. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Corning broke ground on a large optical‑cable expansion in North Carolina to support AI data‑center buildout—strengthening Meta’s supply chain for AI infrastructure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market pieces highlight Meta’s AI and engagement feature rollouts (and recent product launches) as drivers for ad growth; buy‑side firms including Morgan Stanley/others continue to call the pullback a tactical buying opportunity. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing Instagram Plus (paid tier) and other monetization experiments; these could boost ARPU if scaled, but are currently limited pilot programs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is sharing retail and wearables learnings with partners to help physical retail for its AI/VR products—incremental channel development, uncertain near‑term revenue impact. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta suffered two major legal setbacks: a New Mexico ruling holding it accountable for child safety and an LA jury finding apps were designed to addict teens—both raise potential damages, regulatory pressure and litigation risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia summoned Meta over non‑compliance with new rules protecting under‑16 users, and regulators in other markets are flagging potential breaches—heightening compliance costs and moderation burdens. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta announced another round of layoffs impacting ~168 Washington state employees, signalling continued cost actions but also operational disruption in key VR/Reality teams. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,072,742.30. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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