HCR Wealth Advisors Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

HCR Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,378 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of HCR Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $837.09.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven ad thesis and upbeat Q1 outlook — analysts and bullish commentators say Meta’s ad revenue is being re-accelerated by AI improvements, and some expect another beat-and-raise around the April 29 results, supporting upside for shares. Meta Q1: AI Ad Thesis Getting Stronger
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic infrastructure partnerships — Meta signed a pact with Overview Energy for space-based solar to power data centers (longer-term operational/energy advantage) and a multi-year partnership with CBRE to train fiber technicians, both reinforcing infrastructure and cost/scale plans. Meta partners with space startup Overview Energy to secure solar power for data centers Meta Platforms (META) Partners With CBRE to Train Fiber Technicians
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial AI partnerships with cloud providers — broader coverage of AI partnerships (including reports that AWS and others are working with AI players) underscores demand for Meta’s AI-driven products and ad monetization potential. Amazon Is About to Report Q1 Earnings. Do Options Traders Expect a Major Move in AMZN Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Big Tech earnings theme — the upcoming Magnificent Seven reports (including Meta) are being framed around AI monetization and cloud demand; this macro narrative can lift or pressure META depending on actual ad/cloud signals. Big Tech faces key earnings test on AI spending and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional interest — Meta appears on several “top buy” lists and remains heavily held by hedge funds, which supports liquidity but can increase volatility around earnings. 5 Best Big Name Stocks to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: China blocks Manus acquisition — Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its ~$2B purchase of Manus, a setback for Meta’s agentic-AI capability buildout and a reminder of geopolitical risk in cross-border AI deals; this is the biggest immediate negative catalyst. China vetoes Meta’s $2B Manus deal after months-long probe
• Negative Sentiment: Options/volatility and margin concerns — some observers warn that heavy bullish options positioning and rising AI-related spending (Reality Labs and infra/CapEx) leave META exposed to a post-earnings volatility collapse or margin-pressure-driven pullback. Meta’s Stock May Plunge Following Results Buy, Sell or Hold Meta Platforms Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q1 Earnings

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total value of $629,763.34. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,549,946.79. This represents a 8.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 165,600 shares of company stock valued at $106,023,973 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $678.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $629.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $648.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th 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, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

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.