Narus Financial Partners LLC Sells 1,577 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Narus Financial Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 45.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,887 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.5% of Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Argus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $846.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $593.66 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $649.23 and a 200-day moving average of $673.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.