TIAA Trust National Association Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

TIAA Trust National Association trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 191,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,270 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $140,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Citizens Jmp restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.44.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta agreed to let rival AI chatbots operate on WhatsApp in Europe for a year to head off a potential EC injunction — this reduces immediate regulatory tail-risk and preserves WhatsApp’s platform role. Meta to allow AI rivals on WhatsApp in bid to stave off EU action
• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multiyear AI content-licensing deal with News Corp (reported as ~$50M/yr), which helps secure training/retrieval data and reduces legal/quality risk for its AI products. News Corp strikes $50M per year AI licensing deal with Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group upgraded META from hold to buy and some sell‑side firms have raised targets recently, providing analyst support underpinned by strong AI monetization potential. Finviz (analyst note)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta presented at Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference (useful for analyst color but not an immediate catalyst). Meta Presents at Morgan Stanley TMT conference — transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted the stock recently moved more steeply than the broader market (price action context); watch volatility around these news flows. Meta Platforms (META) Falls More Steeply Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Susan Li disclosed a large sale (~$36.5M) and COO Javier Olivan has been selling shares in recent filings — big insider sales can create short-term supply and negative headlines. Insider Selling: Meta Platforms CFO Sells $36,471,323.70 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Form 13F filings show several prominent billionaire managers trimmed or exited META in Q4 — signals some profit‑taking by large funds and possible repositioning away from the name. 7 Preeminent Billionaire Money Managers Dumped Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia issued a stern warning over disinformation/gambling content and urged greater algorithm transparency — this increases regulatory and reputational risk in a large market. Indonesia gives Meta ‘stern warning’ over disinformation

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $637.21, for a total value of $590,056.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 16,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,267,364.73. This trade represents a 5.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,927 shares of company stock valued at $103,155,254. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $660.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $655.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $682.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.10, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.