Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys 15,220 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its Meta stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 15,220 additional shares and bringing its total to 334,651 shares valued at about $220.9 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Meta, with several recent price-target changes and a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” along with an average target price of $840.31.
• Meta’s latest earnings beat expectations: the company reported $10.44 EPS and $56.31 billion in revenue, topping estimates and marking 33.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 334,651 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,220 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.5% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $220,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the third 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 during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Investment Group LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Evercore lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $609.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's 50-day moving average is $627.67 and its 200-day moving average is $645.30. 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, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,565,949. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. This represents a 10.64% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock worth $107,642,717. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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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