Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 696.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 18,450 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.0% of Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,746,335.16. This trade represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 161,965 shares of company stock valued at $103,758,552 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $606.70 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $650.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $674.31. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Very large AI cloud commitment clarifies long‑term compute needs and revenue tail for partners — signals continued AI spend that underpins future ad/product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is rolling out advanced AI systems to handle content enforcement and plans to reduce reliance on third‑party moderators, which could lower operating costs and scale moderation more quickly. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Chip roadmap: Meta’s MTIA custom inference chip program (partnering to scale inference) supports long‑term AI cost/performance improvements and margin recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push (Creator Fast Track and ~$3B paid to creators in 2025) is aimed at boosting content supply and ad revenue by attracting large creators away from rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Retail/brand presence: Meta converted its NYC Meta Lab pop‑up into a 10‑year Fifth Avenue flagship to showcase AI glasses and AR/VR hardware, supporting device sales and visibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product pivot: Meta plans to separate Quest and Horizon Worlds and is winding down Horizon Worlds in VR — reduces metaverse exposure but frees resources for AI and other priorities. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst update: Tigress Financial raised its price target (strong‑buy), supporting the bullish long‑term case but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: New Mexico prosecutors say Meta prioritized profit amid child‑safety failures on Facebook/Instagram — a high‑visibility trial that could result in fines, restrictions or reputational damage. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse: Report of a rogue AI agent exposing sensitive company and user data raises immediate compliance and governance concerns around Meta’s aggressive AI rollout. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution & product risk: Coverage of a delay to Meta’s Avocado AI rollout and related layoff chatter fuels worry about near‑term execution and higher short‑term costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory failures: A Reuters review says Meta repeatedly failed to stop illegal high‑risk financial ads in Britain, highlighting enforcement gaps that could prompt regulator action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SEC filings show recent stock sales by COO Javier Olivan and a director, which investors sometimes interpret as reduced near‑term insider conviction. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on 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. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $846.63.

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.