Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $607.70 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 920,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,261 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.2% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $607,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CMH Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $4,543,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 1,771 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 11,129 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,346,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 202 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,274 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,141,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $536.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $642.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $664.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and other firms are calling Meta a tactical buying opportunity and reiterating Buy/top-pick views, arguing the pullback has created a discounted entry given Meta’s fundamentals and AI exposure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies also highlights that regulatory scrutiny is a persistent theme but not necessarily a crippling near-term catalyst, framing current legal headlines as a potential buying opportunity for longer-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta has begun testing a paid Instagram subscription (“Instagram Plus”) in select markets — a potential new ARPU/revenue stream if expanded, but currently a limited pilot with uncertain near-term revenue impact. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is sharing learnings from its Meta Lab stores with wearables/retail partners — a strategic move to accelerate Reality Labs retail presence and partner adoption, but with gradual monetization potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s El Paso data‑center project has grown to a ~$10B, 1‑gigawatt complex — evidence of big infrastructure buildout to support AI workloads; bullish for long‑term capacity but highlights larger capex commitments. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent court losses and ongoing regulatory/legal scrutiny remain material headline risk — coverage warns these rulings could constrain AI research practices and raise liability exposure, increasing near‑term uncertainty. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to debate Meta’s heavy capex (large multi‑year AI/Reality Labs spending). Deeper analyses flag the risk of near‑term negative free cash flow and pressure on margins despite long‑term optionality. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its price target (from $825 to $775) even while keeping an overweight rating — a mixed signal that narrows upside expectations versus earlier forecasts. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.