Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $14.78 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,562 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of META opened at $593.66 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $649.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $672.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS 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 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 (DPR) is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $872.00 target price (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citizens Jmp reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.