Harmony Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 127.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,575 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,678 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Harmony Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Harmony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

META opened at $639.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $657.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $693.40. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

More Meta Platforms News

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,530 shares of company stock valued at $15,150,029 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.