Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,337 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 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: Q4 beat + AI narrative shift: Meta reported stronger‑than‑expected Q4 revenue and EPS and management framed ad strength as early proof that AI investments are improving monetization and engagement — a narrative some analysts now call an AI profit cycle. Meta’s Story Just Flipped — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Strong guidance & analyst upgrades: Q1 revenue guidance topped Street expectations and many firms raised price targets or reiterated buys, supporting the recent rally and giving institutional investors cover to support higher valuations. MarketBeat: Meta Soars After‑Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Business diversification tests: Meta is piloting premium subscriptions for Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp and expanding AI features — potential long‑term upside but unclear near‑term revenue impact. CNBC: Premium subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout but signal capital intensity: large supplier agreements (e.g., with Corning) back the AI data‑center plan while confirming heavy multi‑year spending. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx: Management guided to $115B–$135B of capex for 2026 — far above prior levels — raising near‑term cash intensity and margin dilution concerns despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs drag: XR/Reality Labs continues to burn cash (multi‑billion losses), creating an ongoing margin headwind and execution risk for non‑ad businesses. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & reputational headlines: A New Mexico trial alleging platforms exposed minors to exploitation and reports about content‑blocking controversies add legal and reputational risk that can pressure multiple‑quarter sentiment. Reuters: New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term profit‑taking & headline noise: high short‑term expectations after the rally, occasional pundit criticism (e.g., Jim Cramer) and small insider sales add to volatility and can push the stock down after its run. 247WallSt: Jim Cramer critique

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

META opened at $716.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $652.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $696.11. 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 1.98.

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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $847.98.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This trade represents a 21.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042. 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.