Vanderbilt University Has $8.64 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Vanderbilt University increased its Meta stake 15.4% in Q4 to 13,089 shares worth $8.64 million, about 1.5% of its portfolio and the university's ninth-largest holding.
• Meta struck a multi‑year partnership with Broadcom for custom AI training and inference chips, including a commitment of roughly one gigawatt of infrastructure through 2029, strengthening its AI-infrastructure buildout.
• Industry data project Meta will surpass Google in global digital ad net revenue this year, and brokerages collectively rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $837.72.

Vanderbilt University grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,089 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of Vanderbilt University's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Vanderbilt University's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased 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 worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares in the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multi‑year partnership with Broadcom to support its custom training and inference chips (MTIA), including a commitment around one gigawatt of infrastructure through 2029 — a material long‑term capex/AI-infrastructure win that underpins scaling of Meta’s AI services. Meta inks deal with Broadcom for custom AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Industry data (eMarketer/WSJ coverage) projects Meta will surpass Google in global digital ad net revenue this year — a bullish signal for advertising growth, pricing power and near‑term revenue outlook. Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time, report says
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage coverage is broadly constructive — consensus is an average “Moderate Buy,” supporting investor confidence even amid volatility. Meta Platforms, Inc. NASDAQ: META Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is developing an AI “replica” of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to interact with employees — an internal efficiency/innovation story that is getting press attention but has limited immediate revenue impact. Meta Platforms Is Building a Mark Zuckerberg AI Bot. Does That Matter for META Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta set to report Q1 results after the close on April 29 — an upcoming catalyst that could amplify moves in either direction depending on ad strength and AI spend commentary. Meta to Announce First Quarter 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: An Italian court allowed a class action over Facebook data scraping, raising regulatory/legal risk and potential litigation exposure in Europe. Italy court allows class action against Meta over Facebook data scraping
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts have trimmed price targets and voiced caution — Stifel issued a more pessimistic forecast and other outlets reported cuts to targets — which can cap upside until earnings and guidance clarify ad trends. Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Stock Price
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets noted a notable downward revision to price targets amid volatility, a reminder valuations are being re‑priced into near‑term expectations despite strong recent returns. Meta Platforms (META) Price Target Reduced by $95 Amid Market Volatility

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $837.72.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $662.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $626.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $651.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,414 shares of company stock valued at $102,659,925 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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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