Factory Mutual Insurance Co. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,391 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27,950 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.1% of Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $218,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 13,539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,943,000 after buying an additional 2,479 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 1,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.3% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 7,626 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 9,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 92,893 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $68,219,000 after purchasing an additional 35,269 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.44.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.3%
NASDAQ:META opened at $653.69 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $656.19 and a 200-day moving average of $687.00.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Big AMD AI deal validates Meta’s AI roadmap and diversifies suppliers — Meta agreed to deploy up to ~6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs (a multi‑year, multi‑billion-dollar commitment and potential equity stake), a major catalyst for confidence in Meta’s AI infrastructure strategy. AMD clinches second mega chip supply deal, this time with Meta
- Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell meaningfully in February (down ~16.5%), reducing one source of downward pressure and making squeezes less likely to amplify sell-offs in the near term.
- Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street reaction is mixed but constructive — some banks (e.g., BofA) see long‑term earnings upside from the AMD tie‑up despite higher capex, while others remain cautious about elevated investment intensity. Meta-AMD AI deal boosts scale but extends high capex cycle, analysts say
- Neutral Sentiment: Policy and operational items could affect costs or timelines — the White House plans talks with Big Tech on data‑center power costs (potentially easing power concerns), and Meta will appear at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference (CFO Susan Li on March 4). White House to host Big Tech in pledge to rein in power costs Meta to Participate in the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference
- Neutral Sentiment: Product/monetization runway: reports that Meta is preparing a stablecoin/payments push in H2 2026 are a longer‑term monetization positive but carry regulatory and execution risk. Meta Hopes to Launch Stablecoin Payments Project This Year
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — CFO Susan Li disclosed a large sale (18,789 shares, ~21% reduction at the time) and COO Javier Olivan sold shares recently; such high‑value insider sales can prompt investor concern about executive conviction even if they are often for diversification or taxes. SEC filing: Susan J. Li sale SEC filing: Javier Olivan sale
- Negative Sentiment: High‑profile investor exit — reports that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller eliminated his fund’s Meta position may weigh on sentiment and be interpreted as a vote of caution by some institutional players. Billionaire Investor Stanley Druckenmiller Eliminated His Fund’s Position in Meta Platforms
- Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational risk from ongoing litigation — court filings about encryption and child‑safety concerns could prompt regulatory scrutiny and headline risk. Meta executive warned Facebook Messenger encryption plan was ‘so irresponsible’
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 48,135 shares of company stock valued at $31,063,415 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.
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.
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