ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 616.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,319 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $55,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $639.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $657.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $693.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $307,040.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,530 shares of company stock valued at $15,150,029 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile institutional support: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a multi‑billion dollar stake, signaling confidence in Meta’s AI pivot and likely attracting other institutional interest. Ackman stake
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst upside: Q4 earnings beat and bullish analyst notes (multiple price‑target raises and buy reiterations) support a constructive medium‑term view. Seeking Alpha bullish note
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware and AI investments showing early traction: Ray‑Ban AI glasses sales growth and Reality Labs repositioning give optionality beyond ads. Ray‑Ban sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (small yield) — positive for income investors but modest versus total return expectations. Dividend PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Large capex for AI: Meta broke ground on a ~$10B data‑center campus to boost AI compute — strengthens long‑term ad/AI moat but raises near‑term capex. Data center Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider/ownership moves mixed: CEO/COO small routine sales and some funds trimming while others add — notable but not a clear directional signal alone. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and reputational risk from facial‑recognition plans for Ray‑Ban AI glasses: Reports that Meta plans a “Name Tag” feature have triggered renewed privacy concerns and could draw regulatory scrutiny or user backlash. NYT facial recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/access hit: Russia moved to block WhatsApp for ~100M users, a material engagement loss in that market. WhatsApp block
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and litigation noise: Ongoing trials and witness testimony alleging platform harm raise litigation/ reputational risk that can pressure sentiment and potentially cost fines or operational changes. Trial coverage

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.