Argent Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 104,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,115 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $69,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after purchasing an additional 38,432 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Cherokee Insurance Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $3,321,000. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

META stock opened at $593.66 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $649.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $672.87.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.