Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,758,014 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,539 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Aberdeen Group plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,292,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $655.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $656.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $689.61. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citizens Jmp reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 target price (up previously from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.29.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Secured multiyear GPU/CPU and codesign deal with NVIDIA that locks supply and a roadmap (Rubin/Vera, confidential computing) — this makes Meta’s AI rollout and large‑scale personalization (e.g., WhatsApp agents) more credible and is a primary driver of investor buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Latest results and marketing metrics show AI is improving ad efficiency — Q4 revenue and EPS beat and stronger ad metrics support the thesis that AI can monetize engagement and help justify infrastructure spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional/activist positioning (including Bill Ackman / Pershing Square and other funds adding stakes) is providing conviction behind the rally and reduces short‑term supply risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Horizon Worlds is being repositioned to mobile and explicitly decoupled from Quest VR — this reduces near‑term execution risk for Reality Labs but also signals less near‑term upside if VR hardware adoption stalls. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/ecosystem updates (revived smartwatch plans; third‑party “Made for Meta” integrations like Virtuix) expand the device roadmap but are unlikely to move core ad revenue near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Very large 2026 CapEx guidance (~$115–$135B) raises real margin and ROIC risk — if AI monetization lags, the spending could compress returns and leave Meta exposed to depreciating infrastructure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling (COO, CFO and at least one director disclosed multi‑trade sales) can add short‑term supply and raises questions about timing of personal liquidity events. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and child‑safety scrutiny (Zuckerberg testimony, PTA distancing, and public reporting on content/encryption tradeoffs) is an overhang that could affect user engagement, regulatory costs or ad targeting over time. Read More.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 172 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.18, for a total value of $109,938.96. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,482,868.70. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,827 shares of company stock worth $18,469,022. 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.