Academy Capital Management Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Academy Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,846 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,370 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 9.5% of Academy Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Academy Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMS Capital Ltda increased its position in Meta Platforms by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. AMS Capital Ltda now owns 61,363 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $45,064,000 after buying an additional 15,949 shares in the last quarter. Tull Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the third quarter. Tull Financial Group Inc. now owns 377 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Severin Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 86,688 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,662,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 31,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,066,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $606.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $650.42 and its 200 day moving average is $674.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company 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 firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $585,250.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,013,237.22. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Very large AI cloud commitment clarifies long‑term compute needs and revenue tail for partners — signals continued AI spend that underpins future ad/product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out advanced AI systems to handle content enforcement and plans to reduce reliance on third‑party moderators, which could lower operating costs and scale moderation more quickly. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip roadmap: Meta’s MTIA custom inference chip program (partnering to scale inference) supports long‑term AI cost/performance improvements and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push (Creator Fast Track and ~$3B paid to creators in 2025) is aimed at boosting content supply and ad revenue by attracting large creators away from rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail/brand presence: Meta converted its NYC Meta Lab pop‑up into a 10‑year Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and AR/VR hardware, supporting device sales and visibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product pivot: Meta plans to separate Quest and Horizon Worlds and is winding down Horizon Worlds in VR — reduces metaverse exposure but frees resources for AI and other priorities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update: Tigress Financial raised its price target (strong‑buy), supporting the bullish long‑term case but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: New Mexico prosecutors say Meta prioritized profit amid child‑safety failures on Facebook/Instagram — a high‑visibility trial that could result in fines, restrictions or reputational damage. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse: Report of a rogue AI agent exposing sensitive company and user data raises immediate compliance and governance concerns around Meta’s aggressive AI rollout. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution & product risk: Coverage of a delay to Meta’s Avocado AI rollout and related layoff chatter fuels worry about near‑term execution and higher short‑term costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory failures: A Reuters review says Meta repeatedly failed to stop illegal high‑risk financial ads in Britain, highlighting enforcement gaps that could prompt regulator action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show recent stock sales by COO Javier Olivan and a director, which investors sometimes interpret as reduced near‑term insider conviction. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

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.