Meritage Portfolio Management Has $17.66 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,040 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,849 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,667 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.55.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will roll out ads on Threads globally next week, expanding a monetization channel on a platform with 400M+ monthly users and improving the ad‑growth narrative. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy and a $910 PT and TD Cowen lifted its target to $820 while reporting Meta will double production of Meta Glasses — signals of continued analyst conviction and product investment upside. Meta pullback creates upside opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab has delivered its first internal models, per the CTO — tangible progress on AI development that supports the company’s long‑term AI narrative and could assuage some investor concerns about the ROI of heavy AI spending. Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat preview flags that the upcoming Q4 results will be driven as much by Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance and expense outlook as by revenue/EPS — a clear catalyst that could swing the stock depending on how aggressive spending guidance is. META Q4 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces an approaching New Mexico child‑safety trial; company lawyers are trying to limit evidence — a legal overhang that adds regulatory and reputational risk. Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst moves and investor actions are mixed-to-negative: UBS trimmed its price target and Meta was reported trading down after that downgrade; a director sold 580 shares — small signals but they can amplify near‑term volatility. UBS lowers Meta price target

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $647.63 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $641.17 and a 200-day moving average of $697.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This trade represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 40,632 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,572 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.