Regal Partners Ltd Has $4.43 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Regal Partners Ltd reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,031 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 12,096 shares during the quarter. Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reissued 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.44.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta unveiled a roadmap for four new in‑house AI chips (MTIA 300/400/450/500) aimed at inference workloads and faster iterative deployments — a long‑term win for gross‑margin control and scalability if Meta can reduce third‑party hardware spend. Meta Chip Roadmap Puts AI Inference And Costs In Sharper Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Facebook Marketplace rolled out Meta AI features that auto‑write listings and suggest prices — these product improvements can increase seller throughput and ad/commerce monetization. Meta AI Writes Listings and Sets Prices for Facebook Marketplace Sellers
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded AI‑driven scam detection across Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger, which helps reduce fraud liability and could improve user trust and engagement. Meta Rolls Out New Scam Alerts Across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger
• Positive Sentiment: Investor endorsement: Michael Cuggino cited Meta as an AI pick for its cost discipline — a vote of confidence that may support long‑term investor sentiment. Cuggino likes Meta for cost discipline
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts at Evercore flagged that large internet names (including Meta) may be oversold amid AI/geopolitical worries — this could imply a rebound if sentiment stabilizes. Amazon, Uber, and Other Internet Stocks Look Too Cheap After AI and Iran Worries
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta acquired Moltbook, a niche social network for AI agents — strategically relevant for agent research but commercially unproven; more of a signal on R&D direction than immediate revenue impact. Meta to acquire Moltbook, the social network for AI agents
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan reduced holdings in recent SEC filings — such sizable insider disposals can spook short‑term investors even if routine. Insider sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: UK regulators and lawmakers are pressing big tech (including Meta) to do more to keep children off platforms — potential for stricter rules or compliance costs in key markets. UK watchdogs press Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube to block children
• Negative Sentiment: Public skepticism on costs: Commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) asking why Meta retains ~78k employees if AI boosts productivity raises investor questions about future headcount, restructuring and near‑term cost cuts. Cramer: Why does Meta need 78,000 employees if AI makes them 10x more productive?
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction note: coverage flagged that Meta fell more than the broader market on the latest session — signaling profit‑taking or short‑term risk aversion despite the strategic positives. Here’s Why Meta Platforms (META) Fell More Than Broader Market

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $638.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $653.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $678.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 161,446 shares of company stock valued at $103,451,688 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.