Snider Financial Group Purchases 2,208 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Snider Financial Group boosted its Meta stake by 18.6% in Q4, buying an additional 2,208 shares to hold 14,095 shares worth about $9.30 million, making META its 11th-largest holding (~2.5% of assets).
• Meta beat Q4 expectations, reporting $8.88 EPS versus $8.16 estimated and $59.89 billion in revenue (up 23.8% YoY), with a $1.70 trillion market cap and a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" (target ~$837.72).
• Despite strong results and strategic AI moves, the stock faces near-term headwinds from recent price-target cuts, significant insider selling and regulatory/legal pressure in Europe.

Snider Financial Group lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,095 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.5% of Snider Financial Group's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Snider Financial Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $671.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm's 50-day moving average is $626.81 and its 200-day moving average is $652.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $855.00 to $760.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $837.72.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multi-year partnership with Broadcom through 2029 that includes an initial commitment to deploy >1 gigawatt of custom silicon capacity to support Meta’s Training & Inference Accelerator chips — it materially de-risks Meta’s AI compute buildout and signals scalable infrastructure plans. Meta inks deal with Broadcom for custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness: Morgan Stanley named META its top tech pick into earnings with a $775 target, and other firms emphasize strong long-term AI-driven upside — supports positive sentiment and buying pressure. Meta Stock Is the Top Pick for Tech Earnings, Morgan Stanley Says. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals/earnings momentum: Meta has a recent history of beating estimates and is expected to continue doing so; analysts highlight revenue and margin strength tied to ads and AI monetization. Why Meta Platforms (META) is Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates Again
• Positive Sentiment: Operational focus on AI/hardware execution: Meta is reorganizing Reality Labs and creating an Applied AI Engineering division to accelerate product execution — a sign management is prioritizing speed on high‑investment initiatives. Meta Makes Major Changes to Speed Reality Labs' Progress
• Neutral Sentiment: Product experiments: Meta is developing an internal, photorealistic AI replica of CEO Mark Zuckerberg for employee engagement — interesting for culture and demo value but uncertain near-term revenue impact. Meta Platforms Is Building a Mark Zuckerberg AI Bot. Does That Matter for META Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Board/governance moves announced recently — likely manageable but worth tracking for any strategic implications. Meta Platforms Announces Upcoming Board of Directors Changes
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators are preparing orders to force Meta to restore rival AI assistants’ access to WhatsApp after Meta imposed access fees — a direct regulatory threat that could limit Meta’s product control and create compliance costs. EU warns Meta WhatsApp AI fee breaches antitrust rules, orders rollback
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure: An Italian court allowed a class action over Facebook data scraping — another regulatory/legal headline that adds to GDPR-era litigation risk in Europe. Italy court allows class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan executed Rule 10b5-1 sales totaling several thousand shares on April 13 — disclosed trades reduce his holdings materially; trades were under pre-arranged plans but can create short-term perception pressure. SEC filing: Javier Olivan insider sales
• Negative Sentiment: Some sell-side caution: recent price-target cuts and a pessimistic note from Stifel flag near-term upside risks despite the longer-term bull case. Meta Platforms (META) Price Target Reduced by $95 Amid Market Volatility Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Stock Price

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 164,499 shares of company stock worth $105,237,895 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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