GoalVest Advisory LLC Acquires 1,634 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 311.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,159 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30. The company 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 posted 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. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.