Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,922 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after purchasing an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after buying an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $574.46 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $637.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. 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 results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta’s Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat’s next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

Meta Platforms 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.