Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Hofer & Associates. Inc

Hofer & Associates. Inc raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 101.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,815 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 160,931 shares of company stock worth $102,997,526. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $843.57.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta’s Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat’s next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $574.46 on Monday. 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 $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $637.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $659.06.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders 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 was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

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.