Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 2,221 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,971 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,571 shares of company stock valued at $25,137,541. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ META opened at $620.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $641.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $701.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Big‑tech energy partnerships reduce a major execution risk for Meta’s planned AI/data‑center buildout by securing long‑term baseload power and prepayment support — lowers power/capex uncertainty for Meta Compute. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional nuclear supply/partner signals (Terrapower reports) similarly bolster Meta’s ability to scale tens/hundreds of gigawatts for AI compute — a strategic enabler for long‑term AI ambitions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wikimedia signed deals giving major AI developers access to Wikipedia content (Meta is a partner) — improves training data access and reduces a content‑quality/permission risk for LLM work. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain bullish and have reaffirmed/raised targets (e.g., Rosenblatt), supporting upside expectations if Meta’s AI investments translate into ad or device monetization. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta Compute — Zuckerberg’s large new data‑center initiative — clarifies strategy (control over AI compute) but implies materially higher capex and longer payback; investors will watch execution and FCF impact. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming quarterly results (Q4 & full‑year 2025) are set for Jan. 28 — a near‑term catalyst that could confirm ad momentum or quantify 2026 capex guidance. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs cuts (~1,500 jobs, ~10% of the division) signal a pullback from metaverse projects; saves costs but raises execution and product risk for VR/metaverse roadmaps and could weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts trimmed targets and issued pessimistic forecasts citing very large 2026 capex and falling free cash flow — creating pressure and increased volatility ahead of results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by COO Javier Oliván (recent small, repeated sales disclosed) can amplify short‑term selling narratives even if transactions are routine. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing regulatory/legal matters (e.g., WhatsApp appeals, global scrutiny) remain background risks that could add costs or limit product rollouts in key markets. Read More.

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.