Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 20.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 310,489 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,745 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $228,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,253 shares in the company, valued at $19,506,247.42. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,158 shares of company stock worth $12,992,197. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $643.22 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $656.60 and its 200-day moving average is $691.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is 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: Large multiyear chip deal with NVIDIA — Meta agreed to buy millions of NVIDIA GPUs and adopt NVIDIA CPUs, networking and rack-scale designs, securing chip supply and lowering future latency/costs for its AI data centers; this is the primary driver of today’s upside. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Deepened strategic alliance and codesign roadmap — coverage highlights a multigenerational NVIDIA–Meta pact (Rubin/Vera architectures, confidential computing) that supports Meta’s Personal Superintelligence vision and signals durable hardware demand. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance—and the Spending Numbers Are Enormous
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and bullish hedge-fund activity — high-profile investors (reports about Bill Ackman and David Tepper) have increased exposure to Meta on its AI growth thesis, adding conviction behind the rally. Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Betting Big on AI David Tepper goes big on Micron, Meta and Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware/product roadmap noise — reports that Meta may debut a smartwatch in 2026 and ongoing XR ecosystem moves (third‑party “Made for Meta” partners) suggest product expansion but limited near-term revenue impact. Meta reboots smartwatch plan, aims debut in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior execs — recent filings show substantial share sales by COO Javier Olivan and CFO Susan Li, which can signal portfolio liquidity-taking and add short-term selling pressure. Olivan SEC filing Li SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal overhangs — CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in a high‑profile youth‑addiction trial, Spain is probing AI-generated content on social platforms, and India is discussing age-based curbs; these risks could pressure user growth, ad targeting or incur fines. Zuckerberg faces questioning at youth addiction trial Spain to probe Meta, TikTok, X India discussing age-based restrictions
• Negative Sentiment: Massive CapEx and margin risk — coverage highlights Meta’s elevated 2026 capex plans (reported guidance as high as ~$115–$135B in some writeups), which fuels concern about near‑term margin pressure and capital intensity if AI monetization lags. Marketbeat: NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.29.

About Meta Platforms

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.