Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,721 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,915 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.0% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 26,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,556 shares during the period. DMKC Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. DMKC Advisory Services LLC now owns 921 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,504 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Fagan Associates Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Fagan Associates Inc. now owns 19,110 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,614,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Forward LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.63 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $645.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,676 shares of company stock valued at $107,299,848. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.