Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 6,280 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,967 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Stephens Inc. AR’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,632 shares of company stock worth $25,055,572. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $647.63 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $641.17 and its 200 day moving average is $697.57.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will roll out ads on Threads globally next week, expanding a monetization channel on a platform with 400M+ monthly users and improving the ad‑growth narrative. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy and a $910 PT and TD Cowen lifted its target to $820 while reporting Meta will double production of Meta Glasses — signals of continued analyst conviction and product investment upside. Meta pullback creates upside opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab has delivered its first internal models, per the CTO — tangible progress on AI development that supports the company’s long‑term AI narrative and could assuage some investor concerns about the ROI of heavy AI spending. Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat preview flags that the upcoming Q4 results will be driven as much by Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance and expense outlook as by revenue/EPS — a clear catalyst that could swing the stock depending on how aggressive spending guidance is. META Q4 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces an approaching New Mexico child‑safety trial; company lawyers are trying to limit evidence — a legal overhang that adds regulatory and reputational risk. Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst moves and investor actions are mixed-to-negative: UBS trimmed its price target and Meta was reported trading down after that downgrade; a director sold 580 shares — small signals but they can amplify near‑term volatility. UBS lowers Meta price target

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $821.55.

Meta Platforms Company 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.