Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 23.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,799 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 32,120 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.8% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $76,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the second quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus (reported >$2B) is being viewed as strategically accretive — Manus has rapid ARR growth and deployed AI agents at scale, which could strengthen Meta’s business-focused AI offerings and ad performance. Why Meta’s +$2B AI Startup Acquisition Could Be a Huge Win
• Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage remains upbeat: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Buy on META, and commentators (including Jim Cramer) have highlighted Meta as a buy, supporting investor confidence. Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: Monetization tailwinds continue: the WSJ reports Instagram Reels has become a ~\$50B business — evidence Meta’s AI-driven ad products are driving revenue expansion. How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity has surged around META, signaling elevated trader interest and potential volatility but not a clear directional signal for fundamentals. Spotlight on Meta Platforms: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry pieces and stock roundups (Fool, 247WallSt) compare Meta to peers and include it in AI/tech buy lists — helpful context but not immediate catalysts. Meta Platforms vs. Pinterest
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has surfaced (including a ~\$341k sale by Jennifer Newstead and separate COO stock sales), which can spook investors despite being modest relative to Meta’s market cap. Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal pressure increased: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit over scam ads and Reuters ran an investigation alleging Meta misled regulators about fake ads — these raise reputational and potential legal risk that can weigh on the stock. U.S. Virgin Islands Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Scam Ads and User Safety

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,269,739 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ META opened at $650.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $647.29 and a 200-day moving average of $705.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

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.