Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Fulcrum Equity Management

Fulcrum Equity Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 105.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 946 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.2% of Fulcrum Equity Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Fulcrum Equity Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. 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 note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $593.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $649.23 and a 200 day moving average of $672.87. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting 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

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.