Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,383 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,222 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Telligent Fund LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the third quarter. Telligent Fund LP now owns 8,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 272 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 282,739 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $207,638,000 after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,312,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value 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 approximately $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,927 shares of company stock worth $103,155,254 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $844.44.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Signed a multiyear AI content-licensing deal that gives Meta paid access to News Corp content for training and retrieval — supports AI product quality and reduces legal/quality risk around training data. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Announced a new applied AI engineering organization (flat structure to speed model development) and an applied AI unit to accelerate model work — signals faster product development and continued R&D investment behind AI-driven ad and product monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and pundits highlight Meta’s ability to monetize AI across its large user base (including tests of AI shopping tools) — reinforces revenue upside from higher engagement and ad yield. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference — useful for analyst color but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation reviews note Meta’s scale, margins and recent cooling in short-term returns — provides context for positioning but is not a day-specific driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and others point out heavy institutional buying even as insiders sell — suggests professional investors remain constructive despite headline noise. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia issued a “stern warning” over disinformation and gambling content and is pushing for greater algorithm transparency — represents regulatory and content-moderation risk in a large market. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Indonesian officials publicly urged Meta to increase algorithm transparency, adding reputational and compliance pressure that could lead to operational or policy costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Facebook experienced user outages in the U.S. this week — short-term engagement and ad-impression risk and a reminder of operational vulnerability. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales disclosed: CFO Susan Li sold ~56,571 shares (~$36.5M) and COO Javier Olivan also sold shares — executed via SEC filings; while often tax/plan-driven, such sales can create short-term selling pressure and feed negative headlines. Read More. Read More.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of META opened at $667.73 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $655.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $682.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid 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 (DPR) is 8.94%.

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.