Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Raised by Cambria Investment Management L.P.

Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 240.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,555 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Trust Co of the South boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Very large AI cloud commitment clarifies long‑term compute needs and revenue tail for partners — signals continued AI spend that underpins future ad/product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out advanced AI systems to handle content enforcement and plans to reduce reliance on third‑party moderators, which could lower operating costs and scale moderation more quickly. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip roadmap: Meta’s MTIA custom inference chip program (partnering to scale inference) supports long‑term AI cost/performance improvements and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push (Creator Fast Track and ~$3B paid to creators in 2025) is aimed at boosting content supply and ad revenue by attracting large creators away from rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail/brand presence: Meta converted its NYC Meta Lab pop‑up into a 10‑year Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and AR/VR hardware, supporting device sales and visibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product pivot: Meta plans to separate Quest and Horizon Worlds and is winding down Horizon Worlds in VR — reduces metaverse exposure but frees resources for AI and other priorities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update: Tigress Financial raised its price target (strong‑buy), supporting the bullish long‑term case but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: New Mexico prosecutors say Meta prioritized profit amid child‑safety failures on Facebook/Instagram — a high‑visibility trial that could result in fines, restrictions or reputational damage. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse: Report of a rogue AI agent exposing sensitive company and user data raises immediate compliance and governance concerns around Meta’s aggressive AI rollout. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution & product risk: Coverage of a delay to Meta’s Avocado AI rollout and related layoff chatter fuels worry about near‑term execution and higher short‑term costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory failures: A Reuters review says Meta repeatedly failed to stop illegal high‑risk financial ads in Britain, highlighting enforcement gaps that could prompt regulator action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show recent stock sales by COO Javier Olivan and a director, which investors sometimes interpret as reduced near‑term insider conviction. Read More.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $606.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $650.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $674.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 target price (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.63.

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.