Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Buys 2,885 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,885 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,597,374,000 after buying an additional 142,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $574.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $639.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $662.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $843.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept Meta as a top pick despite trimming its price target to $775, signaling continued conviction in the company’s long‑term AI and ad recovery story. Morgan Stanley trims PT
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is building an elite AI lab for its recommendations division and deploying AI to accelerate risk reviews — moves that should improve product relevancy, ad monetization, and safety over time. Business Insider: AI lab
• Positive Sentiment: Product updates (new Ray‑Ban prescription smart glasses) expand hardware monetization optionality and signal progress in Reality Labs consumer offerings. MSN: Ray‑Ban glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: China’s commerce ministry said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals amid reports of a review of a Meta transaction — a stabilizing comment for deal risk but not a definitive clearance. Reuters: China supports deals
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut Meta’s price target sharply to $765 (from $856) though it kept an Overweight rating — the sizable PT cut reinforces near‑term sentiment weakness despite a positive medium‑term view; Wells Fargo highlighted upcoming earnings as a potential catalyst. Invezz: Wells Fargo PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Erste Group downgraded META from Buy to Hold, adding to analyst caution and likely contributing to selling pressure. Finviz: Erste downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Recent legal losses (New Mexico civil penalties and a “bellwether” California jury verdict) are the largest near‑term overhang — they raise the risk of follow‑on suits, potential billings for damages/legal fees, and political/regulatory scrutiny that could materially affect sentiment and valuation. MarketBeat: legal losses analysis

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.