Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s 7th Largest Position

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,807 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 15,721 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $131,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $843.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $575.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $633.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $656.17. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis 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 currently 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s shutdown of the Sora app removes a high-profile competitor to short-form video (Reels), easing competitive pressure on Meta’s ad franchise and Reels monetization runway. This bolsters the case for sustainable ad growth and margin leverage.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/investor bullishness and stock-pickers calling Meta a buy: a Seeking Alpha piece argues Meta’s Q4 beat, AI-driven ad improvements, and tighter discretionary spending make it a buy (potential upside to sentiment). Meta Platforms: Time To Double Down
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs / broader macro narrative: coverage noting cheaper tech valuations and a new “opportunity” view on AI-exposed large caps supports rotation back into names like Meta as AI optimism normalizes. High Growth, Lower Valuations
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming quarterly report is a near-term catalyst—investors are focused on Q1 guidance, ad trends, and AI monetization progress; the preview outlines what to watch but outcome uncertainty makes this a binary event. What to Expect From Meta Platforms’ Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Market microstructure: trading commentary shows Meta’s price action is relatively controlled with lower intraday volatility compared with high-beta AI plays, which may attract institutional flows looking for large-cap AI exposure with lower volatility. Meta Vs. SMCI: 1 AI Trade, 2 Risk Profiles
• Neutral Sentiment: Product and ad tools: guides and coverage on Meta’s Collection Ads and ad agency use-cases reinforce steady demand from e-commerce advertisers but are incremental rather than immediate share-movers. Meta Collection Ads For eCommerce Businesses
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade to “Hold” injects short-term headwinds for sentiment—downgrades can pressure shares and reduce the pool of buyers at current levels. Analyst Downgrades Meta Platforms (META) to ‘Hold’
• Negative Sentiment: Lingering concerns — higher AI spending, legal/regulatory risks and geopolitical noise — continue to cap multiple expansion and leave shares sensitive to negative headlines. General market write-ups highlight these ongoing risks. What’s going on with Meta stock today?

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.