Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,418 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 872 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.9% of Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after buying an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% in the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 84,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $62,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Finally, Cherokee Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $3,321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,418 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $4,106,043.86. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 73,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,924,570.42. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total value of $109,938.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,482,868.70. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,310 shares of company stock worth $18,159,577. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Secured multiyear GPU/CPU and codesign deal with NVIDIA that locks supply and a roadmap (Rubin/Vera, confidential computing) — this makes Meta’s AI rollout and large‑scale personalization (e.g., WhatsApp agents) more credible and is a primary driver of investor buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Latest results and marketing metrics show AI is improving ad efficiency — Q4 revenue and EPS beat and stronger ad metrics support the thesis that AI can monetize engagement and help justify infrastructure spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional/activist positioning (including Bill Ackman / Pershing Square and other funds adding stakes) is providing conviction behind the rally and reduces short‑term supply risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Horizon Worlds is being repositioned to mobile and explicitly decoupled from Quest VR — this reduces near‑term execution risk for Reality Labs but also signals less near‑term upside if VR hardware adoption stalls. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/ecosystem updates (revived smartwatch plans; third‑party “Made for Meta” integrations like Virtuix) expand the device roadmap but are unlikely to move core ad revenue near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Very large 2026 CapEx guidance (~$115–$135B) raises real margin and ROIC risk — if AI monetization lags, the spending could compress returns and leave Meta exposed to depreciating infrastructure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling (COO, CFO and at least one director disclosed multi‑trade sales) can add short‑term supply and raises questions about timing of personal liquidity events. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and child‑safety scrutiny (Zuckerberg testimony, PTA distancing, and public reporting on content/encryption tradeoffs) is an overhang that could affect user engagement, regulatory costs or ad targeting over time. Read More.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $655.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $656.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $689.03. 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) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

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.