Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 861,014 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.0% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $632,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

META stock opened at $639.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $657.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $693.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus restated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $307,040.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,487,699.60. This trade represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,530 shares of company stock valued at $15,150,029. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile institutional support: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a multi‑billion dollar stake, signaling confidence in Meta’s AI pivot and likely attracting other institutional interest. Ackman stake
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst upside: Q4 earnings beat and bullish analyst notes (multiple price‑target raises and buy reiterations) support a constructive medium‑term view. Seeking Alpha bullish note
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware and AI investments showing early traction: Ray‑Ban AI glasses sales growth and Reality Labs repositioning give optionality beyond ads. Ray‑Ban sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (small yield) — positive for income investors but modest versus total return expectations. Dividend PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Large capex for AI: Meta broke ground on a ~$10B data‑center campus to boost AI compute — strengthens long‑term ad/AI moat but raises near‑term capex. Data center Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider/ownership moves mixed: CEO/COO small routine sales and some funds trimming while others add — notable but not a clear directional signal alone. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and reputational risk from facial‑recognition plans for Ray‑Ban AI glasses: Reports that Meta plans a “Name Tag” feature have triggered renewed privacy concerns and could draw regulatory scrutiny or user backlash. NYT facial recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/access hit: Russia moved to block WhatsApp for ~100M users, a material engagement loss in that market. WhatsApp block
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and litigation noise: Ongoing trials and witness testimony alleging platform harm raise litigation/ reputational risk that can pressure sentiment and potentially cost fines or operational changes. Trial coverage

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.