Kestra Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 212,207 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,288 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.5% of Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $121,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s upcoming Q2 earnings release on July 29 should provide a fresh read on revenue growth, profitability, and the payoff from its AI investments. Meta to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to debate Meta’s valuation and long-term AI strategy, with some arguing the stock remains attractive while others say spending is getting ahead of near-term returns. Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.92X PS: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces a lawsuit alleging its AI-based layoff process discriminated against employees on approved leave, which could add legal costs and hurt investor sentiment around its AI deployment practices. Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, former employees’ lawsuit claims

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $661.04 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $600.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $626.76. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

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.