Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Baxter Bros Inc.

Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.3% of Baxter Bros Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $820.22.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta debuted its first augmented‑reality smart glasses and continues to present AR/AI hardware as a multi‑year growth runway that could meaningfully expand monetizable user engagement over time. Long‑term device roadmap commentary supports the AI/AR investment narrative. Billionaires Are Buying an AI Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly positive: many analysts keep Buy/Outperform ratings and elevated price targets (median targets near the low‑to‑mid $800s), reinforcing demand as investors position for AI monetization and ad recovery. Analyst & Social Sentiment
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data for December shows effectively zero days-to-cover in the published snapshot — likely a data anomaly rather than a meaningful shift in positioning; treat as noise until validated by exchanges. (No single authoritative article; internal data feed.)
• Negative Sentiment: Italy’s antitrust regulator ordered Meta to suspend WhatsApp contract terms that could block rival AI chatbots while it investigates abuse of dominance — this escalates EU scrutiny of Meta’s AI integration and could force product/policy changes or fines. Reuters: Italy watchdog
• Negative Sentiment: Policy tests limiting links in Facebook posts (paywalls/URL limits for non‑verified users) could hurt creators and small business marketers, risking engagement and ad demand if rolled out broadly. MSN: Link limit impact
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over Meta’s large AI capex persists — commentators and some analysts question whether the company’s ~$75B AI investment will deliver timely returns, which can pressure sentiment if near‑term margins or cash flow disappoint. YouTube: META’s $75B AI Bet
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling filings (COO Javier Oliván and other officers) have been highlighted by data services; amounts are small vs. total holdings but can be read negatively by short‑term traders. MarketBeat: Insider trades
• Negative Sentiment: Broker/forecast notes (e.g., a pessimistic Baird piece cited) add near‑term target downside narratives that can amplify volatility when paired with regulatory headlines. AmericanBankingNews: Baird forecast

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $666.94 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $706.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,177 shares in the company, valued at $19,238,730.26. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548 in the last quarter. 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.