Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Purchases 1,052 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META
Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,766 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the third quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 402 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Meta Platforms alerts:Insiders Place Their BetsIn other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total value of $421,958.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 2,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,591,232.48. This represents a 20.96% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 167,155 shares of company stock valued at $107,067,129. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders. More Meta Platforms NewsHere are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings & ad momentum — Meta beat Q1 revenue and EPS expectations (revenue ~$56.3B; EPS well above consensus), showing robust ad demand and early AI monetization that supports long-term revenue growth. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: AI product traction — Meta says its Business AI now handles ~10 million conversations per week, evidence that AI features are being adopted and could drive new ad/enterprise revenue streams. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: New monetization moves — Pilot to pay creators in USDC and partnerships to secure energy for data centers signal diversification of payments and longer-term infrastructure planning. Read More. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling disclosed — COO Javier Oliván sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan; typical disclosure but watched by investors for signal. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Massive capex raise — Meta raised 2026 capital expenditure guidance sharply (now ~$125B–$145B), triggering concerns about near-term free cash flow, funding needs and the payback timeline on multiyear AI infrastructure spending. Investors pitched the stock down on this news. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Market reaction vs peers — Investors rewarded Alphabet’s AI strategy but punished Meta for the scale and funding model of its AI spend (no cloud cushion), widening the gap in market confidence. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Funding & financing signals — Reports that Meta is exploring a $20–$25B investment-grade bond sale to fund AI expansion add to investor worry about higher leverage and dilution of near-term cash returns. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Cost cuts + job risk — Management told staff that layoffs are tied to capex priorities and did not rule out further cuts, underscoring reallocation toward AI at the expense of labor and short-term execution risk. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal exposure — EU Digital Services Act charges over under‑13 users and a New Mexico AG standoff on age verification raise the possibility of fines, restrictions or costly compliance measures. Read More. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Loss-making bets & M&A headwinds — Reality Labs reported another multi‑billion operating loss and Meta faces pushback/unwinding of deals (Manus acquisition), highlighting high-cost bets with uncertain returns. Read More. Read More.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 8.6%Meta Platforms stock opened at $611.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $629.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $648.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.83% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Meta Platforms Announces DividendThe business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast GrowthA number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $841.26.Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta PlatformsMeta Platforms Profile (Free Report)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.See AlsoThis instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.Click the link to see MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising. Get This Free Report
