Sound Income Strategies LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,449,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second 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 period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,238,730.26. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baird reaffirmed an “Outperform” rating on META and kept a high price target (trimmed slightly to $815), signaling continued analyst confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven margin upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report analysts remain generally bullish on Meta heading into 2026, supporting demand for shares as investors position for AI monetization and ad strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: reports of a new “Mango” AI model and a software update improving noise reduction for Meta’s AI glasses bolster prospects for differentiated AI features that can lift user engagement and ad effectiveness. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad product execution: Ads Uploader exiting beta in 30 countries could improve ad operations for agencies (incremental revenue/enhanced ad spend efficiency), but impact will be gradual. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary notes momentum cooling below resistance around $675 — useful for short‑term traders but not a direct fundamental change. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Two insider sales were filed this week: Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares and COO Javier Oliván sold 517 shares — small dollar amounts relative to insider holdings but sometimes interpreted negatively by short‑term traders. Newstead SEC Filing Oliván SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Product/policy headwinds: reports that Meta is testing pay‑walls for URLs in Facebook posts and limiting links could hurt creators and small business marketers, a potential risk to engagement and ad demand if widespread. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk: FTC data highlights $65M in rental scams since 2020 that often originate on Facebook, reminding investors of regulatory and trust issues that could pressure engagement or attract enforcement. Article Title

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $664.94 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $657.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $707.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued 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, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.22.

Meta Platforms 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.