United Advisor Group LLC Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Meta by 8.2% to 12,151 shares valued at $8.02 million, representing about 1.0% of its portfolio and contributing to the fact that institutional investors now own roughly 79.9% of META.
• Insider sales totaled 166,117 shares (~$106.4 million) in the past 90 days, including sales by COO Javier Olivan and CTO Andrew Bosworth, though Olivan’s sale was executed under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan.
• Analyst sentiment is bullish—price targets and ratings have been raised (average target $837.09, consensus "Moderate Buy")—and recent corporate moves like an AWS Graviton5 deal and plans to cut ~10% of staff while boosting AI capacity have helped push the stock up about 2.5%.

United Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,151 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of United Advisor Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. United Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,653,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 166,117 shares of company stock valued at $106,367,778 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $837.09.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta signed a multiyear, multibillion-dollar agreement to deploy tens of millions of AWS Graviton5 cores to power its agentic AI workloads — investors view this as a scalable, cost-efficient way to boost AI capacity and cut future capex risk. Meta strikes deal with Amazon's cloud unit to use its CPU chips
• Positive Sentiment: Management announced plans to cut ~10% of the workforce (~8,000 roles) and freeze hiring for ~6,000 openings to "run more efficiently" and offset AI investments — a move markets often reward when paired with heavy AI capex. Meta will cut 10% of workforce as it pushes more into AI
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and buy-side interest (price-target upgrades and bullish notes on AI-driven ad monetization) are reinforcing the upside narrative around revenue and margins. Guggenheim reaffirms buy and sets $850 target
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales by the COO were disclosed (executed under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan) — routine but noted by traders watching insider activity. SEC filing: Javier Olivan insider sales
• Negative Sentiment: Staff reactions describe weeks of limbo and morale damage ("28 days of hell") ahead of the May cuts, raising execution and product-risk concerns if key teams are disrupted. Meta employees react to pending job cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is tracking employee keystrokes and web usage to train AI models raise privacy/ethical questions and potential regulatory scrutiny that could create reputational or legal costs. Meta is tracking employee usage for AI training
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal/ESG pressures (court rulings, shareholder proposals on human rights and AI energy/climate impacts) remain a medium-term headwind for sentiment and could spur additional disclosures or costs. Meta faces new ESG pressures

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $675.50 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $628.34 and its 200 day moving average is $650.06. The company has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during 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%.Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 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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