Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Expanded AI partnerships and infrastructure deals boost revenue/AI roadmap visibility — Meta deepened and extended its Broadcom AI‑chip relationship (scaling capacity through 2029), supporting faster AI feature rollout and higher ad/engagement monetization potential. Meta Platforms Taps AVGO for AI Expansion: Buy or Hold META Stock?
- Positive Sentiment: Large capacity commitments to CoreWeave underline sizable, long‑dated AI infrastructure spending that supports Meta’s compute roadmap and revenue mix. This signals durable demand for Meta’s AI stack and gives investors visibility on AI spend scale. CoreWeave’s April Shockwave — Meta, Anthropic, Jane Street All Say Yes
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: TD Cowen reiterated a buy and assigned a high $820 price target, which can drive positive sentiment and flows into the stock. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) Receives Buy Rating from TD Cowen
- Neutral Sentiment: Hardware pricing update: Meta will raise U.S. prices for Quest VR headsets to offset rising component costs — a margin/profitability mix impact that’s ambiguous for top‑line growth. Meta to raise Quest VR headset prices in US on rising component costs
- Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre‑arranged 10b5‑1 plan (disclosed SEC filing) — routine but noted by traders as liquidity/positioning data. SEC ownership filing
- Neutral Sentiment: Reputation/regulatory watch: Reports of AI‑generated fake influencer accounts across platforms (TikTok/Instagram/Facebook) add moderation and policy risk, but near‑term financial impact is uncertain. Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media
- Negative Sentiment: Major layoffs planned: Reuters reports Meta will cut roughly 10% of its global workforce (~8,000 jobs) in an initial wave targeted for May 20, with additional rounds later in 2026. That reduces near‑term operating costs but raises execution, morale and product roadmap risk; markets often react variably to large cuts. Exclusive: Meta targets May 20 for first wave of layoffs; additional cuts later in 2026
- Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in Europe: The European Commission is considering interim measures to force WhatsApp policy rollbacks that could limit how third‑party AI services access WhatsApp Business — a potential hit to monetization plans in a key market. European Action On WhatsApp AI Access Tests Meta’s Monetization Plans
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%
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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $837.72.
View Our Latest Report on META
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms 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 directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms 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 owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,079 shares of company stock worth $105,624,755. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.
Further Reading
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