Fluent Financial LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fluent Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,154 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,663,000. Meta Platforms makes up 4.1% of Fluent Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept an “Overweight” stance and named META a top pick even as it trimmed its price target to $775 — that endorsement (and the analyst framing of Meta as a buy-the-dip) is helping sentiment among institutional investors. Morgan Stanley Trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 Amid Softer Advertising Backdrop
• Positive Sentiment: Infrastructure tie-up: Meta and Corning broke ground on a major optical-cable expansion to support Meta’s AI data‑center buildout — a signal that Meta’s AI capex is progressing and that supply-chain partnerships are being secured. Corning and Meta Celebrate Start of Construction on Cable Manufacturing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Product & monetization moves: Meta launched new Ray‑Ban prescription smart glasses and is testing Instagram Plus subscriptions, while rolling out AI-driven engagement features — all moves that can expand monetization levers beyond core ads over time. Meta unveils two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta reorganized to form an elite AI lab for recommendations (headed by a former TikTok exec) — potentially meaningful for engagement/AI monetization but benefits are medium‑ to long‑term and execution dependent. Meta is assembling an elite new AI lab for its recommendations division
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-term price action is also being driven by a risk‑on rotation back into growth names; some of today’s bounce looks like sector flow rather than company‑specific news. What’s Behind The Bounce In Meta Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk remains the biggest overhang — recent court losses (including cases that found harm to teens) create a bellwether precedent, raise the chance of many follow‑on suits and could materially increase liability or legal costs if rulings are upheld. Meta plans to appeal, but the uncertainty is weighing on multiples. Meta was finally held accountable for harming teens. Now what?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and operational headwinds: Indonesia has summoned Meta over child‑safety compliance, and the company disclosed another round of layoffs (particularly in VR/Reality Labs) — both raise near‑term execution and regulatory friction risk. Meta unveils two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $579.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $640.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $662.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.