Focused Wealth Management Inc Sells 1,143 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Focused Wealth Management Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.7% of Focused Wealth Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Focused Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,597,374,000 after acquiring an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,525,258,000 after acquiring an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,619,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,001,772,000 after acquiring an additional 481,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. DA Davidson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and AI-driven ad pricing — Meta reported stronger-than-expected revenue and EPS, with AI-powered ad tools and pricing cited as driving high revenue growth and improved monetization, supporting upside case for ad margins and cash flow. Meta: Keep Calm And Focus On Muse, Spark And Record Revenue Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Expansion of teen-safety and age-verification tech — Meta announced it will roll out new AI safeguards for teens across 27 EU countries and to Facebook in the U.S., including visual AI checks to help flag under‑13 accounts; this may reduce regulatory pressure but could carry implementation costs and user-friction risk. Meta to expand teen safeguards to 27 EU countries, Facebook safeguards in June
• Neutral Sentiment: Product roadmap: advanced ‘agentic’ AI assistant — FT/Reuters report that Meta is building a highly personalized AI assistant that can act on users’ behalf. Positive for long-term engagement but highlights why investors are watching rising AI R&D and capex. Meta plans advanced ‘agentic’ AI assistant for users, FT reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Big capex and data‑center financing — Bloomberg/Reuters report Meta is lining up ~ $13B financing for an El Paso data center, underscoring heavy near‑term cash commitments that support growth but pressure free cash flow. Meta taps Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan for El Paso data center deal, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: New Mexico youth‑harm trial and potential remedies — State seeks sweeping changes and up to $3.7B plus injunction-style platform changes in ongoing trial alleging harm to children; a court order could force product changes and sizable remediation costs. New Mexico seeks changes to Meta platforms in youth harm trial
• Negative Sentiment: Major publishers sue over AI training — Large publishers (Elsevier, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Hachette, etc.) filed copyright suits alleging Meta used books and journals to train Llama; litigation could lead to damages, injunctive relief or changes to data‑use practices. Major publishers sue Meta for copyright infringement over AI training
• Negative Sentiment: EU/Irish regulatory scrutiny — Ireland opened probes into Instagram/Facebook algorithmic personalization and Meta is contesting an EU order that could force rival AI chatbot access on WhatsApp; regulatory actions could impose operational constraints or fines. Ireland probles Meta’s Instagram, Facebook over EU manipulation concerns Meta seeks to fend off EU order to allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp at hearing
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal fallout and shareholder scrutiny — Reuters won a Pulitzer on Meta investigations into harmful chatbots/fraudulent ads; law firms and shareholder groups are probing the board for oversight breaches, increasing litigation and governance risk. Reuters wins beat reporting Pulitzer for Meta investigations

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $604.96 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $628.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $646.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total value of $421,958.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,232.48. This represents a 20.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 166,638 shares of company stock worth $106,697,681. 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.