Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,177 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,064 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired 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 during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept Meta as a top pick despite trimming its price target to $775, signaling continued conviction in the company’s long‑term AI and ad recovery story. Morgan Stanley trims PT
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is building an elite AI lab for its recommendations division and deploying AI to accelerate risk reviews — moves that should improve product relevancy, ad monetization, and safety over time. Business Insider: AI lab
• Positive Sentiment: Product updates (new Ray‑Ban prescription smart glasses) expand hardware monetization optionality and signal progress in Reality Labs consumer offerings. MSN: Ray‑Ban glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: China’s commerce ministry said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals amid reports of a review of a Meta transaction — a stabilizing comment for deal risk but not a definitive clearance. Reuters: China supports deals
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut Meta’s price target sharply to $765 (from $856) though it kept an Overweight rating — the sizable PT cut reinforces near‑term sentiment weakness despite a positive medium‑term view; Wells Fargo highlighted upcoming earnings as a potential catalyst. Invezz: Wells Fargo PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group downgraded META from Buy to Hold, adding to analyst caution and likely contributing to selling pressure. Finviz: Erste downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Recent legal losses (New Mexico civil penalties and a “bellwether” California jury verdict) are the largest near‑term overhang — they raise the risk of follow‑on suits, potential billings for damages/legal fees, and political/regulatory scrutiny that could materially affect sentiment and valuation. MarketBeat: legal losses analysis

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $574.46 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $639.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $662.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $843.57.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.