Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lessened by Marks Group Wealth Management Inc

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,556 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,348 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.68, for a total value of $410,535.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,885 shares in the company, valued at $1,882,981.80. This trade represents a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 55,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.61, for a total transaction of $35,293,344.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,354,781.46. This represents a 80.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 103,837 shares of company stock valued at $66,356,760 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $648.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $655.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $685.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.44.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reported multiyear deal to rent Google’s TPU chips to accelerate model training — expands Meta’s compute capacity quickly without buying all hardware, supporting AI roadmap and ad/AI monetization prospects. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Deal with AMD for GPUs and plans for very large 2026 capex (reported commitments and nuclear power pacts) strengthen Meta’s in‑house training scale and long‑term AI competitiveness, which investors view as revenue‑accretive over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is trialing stablecoin payments across Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp, targeting faster payments and adoption in underbanked markets — a potential new revenue stream and higher engagement in emerging markets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company sued advertisers over celebrity‑impersonation scams and took technical enforcement actions — a move to shore up ad quality and preserve advertiser trust. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI hired a high‑profile Meta AI researcher — talent movement highlights competition for AI engineers but is common across the sector and not unique to Meta. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry comparisons show Alphabet gaining share in AI‑fuelled search and investing aggressively — useful context for competitive positioning but not an immediate earnings event. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EU court adviser sided with regulators in a dispute over antitrust data requests — raises regulatory/compliance risk and potential costs in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile US trial testimony about social‑media harms and new Instagram parent‑alert policies keep litigation and reputational risk elevated, which can pressure sentiment and regulatory scrutiny. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales by CFO Susan Li (55,702 shares) and recent COO selling may be read negatively by some investors, adding near‑term selling pressure despite common non‑signal reasons for sales; SEC filing available. Read More.

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.