Retirement Planning Group LLC Purchases 1,466 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,389 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after purchasing an additional 38,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,115 shares of company stock worth $24,741,055. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $821.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ META opened at $612.96 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $640.41 and its 200 day moving average is $697.92.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will begin showing ads on Threads globally next week — Threads has passed ~400M users and data suggests rapid DAU growth versus X; global ad availability is a direct near?term revenue catalyst as the company starts to monetize that audience. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab (Superintelligence Labs) has delivered its first in?house models, per the CTO — this progress supports product differentiation, reduces dependency on third?party models, and improves the narrative around AI ROI for Meta’s heavy capex. Exclusive: Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Positive Sentiment: Oklo’s stock upgrade highlights Meta’s agreement to use advanced nuclear power for data centers — a multi?year, binding energy supply deal could lower long?term data?center energy costs and improve sustainability credentials. Oklo Stock Upgraded to Buy. Meta Nuclear Deal Is a ‘Meaningful Step Forward.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS trimmed its price target (from $915 to $830) but kept a buy rating — analysts still see upside, though the lowered target highlights ongoing uncertainty around timing/returns of AI investments. UBS lowers META price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta cut ~1,500 Reality Labs roles and reported additional smaller layoffs — a cost?reduction move that trims losses in non?core metaverse projects but signals scaling back of prior bets. Meta lays off 331 workers in Washington state
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC will appeal its loss in the antitrust case over Instagram and WhatsApp — renewed legal risk keeps a regulatory overhang that could drive volatility and potential future remedies. FTC will appeal ruling in Meta antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Some customers left Manus after Meta’s ~$2B acquisition — customer attrition and privacy concerns around the buy create execution and reputational risk for Meta’s AI push. Meta’s $2 billion Manus deal pushes away some customers
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator alleges Meta profited from illegal gambling ads — another regulatory/PR headwind that could prompt stricter oversight or fines in key markets. Britain accuses Meta of profiting from illegal gambling ads
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: a director sold 580 shares (filed disclosure) — small size but sometimes taken by investors as a modest negative signal. Insider filing: Kimmitt sale

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.