Cerity Partners LLC Buys 89,737 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 970,695 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 89,737 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.1% of Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $710,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $631.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $641.42 and a 200 day moving average of $702.20. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,799,940. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — TD Cowen raised its price target on META to $820 and kept a Buy rating, giving investors a near‑term valuation upside narrative amid the recent pullback. Benzinga: TD Cowen price target
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger commercial demand for Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses — Meta and EssilorLuxottica are reportedly discussing doubling production capacity (10M→20M units, with upside to 30M) this year, signaling product-market fit for AI wearables and potential revenue growth outside advertising. Reuters: doubling Ray‑Ban output
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire to drive AI strategy — Meta named Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to help steer its AI and infrastructure buildout, a governance move investors see as strengthening execution. Reuters: Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic repositioning in Reality Labs — Wedbush views the cuts and resource reallocation as a discipline shift toward consumer wearables (and away from broad metaverse bets), which could improve capital efficiency but delays returns. ProactiveInvestors: Wedbush on Reality Labs cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy/infrastructure play — Meta’s Meta Compute and deals (including the Oklo prepayment) to secure gigawatt‑scale baseload power are a long‑term moat for AI scale but lock in very large capex outlays and long timelines. MarketBeat: Meta energy strategy / Oklo
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs job cuts and restructuring — Reports say Meta will cut ~10–15% of Reality Labs (1,000–1,500 jobs) as it shifts from VR/metaverse projects to AI wearables; this highlights past capital waste and near‑term restructuring costs that weigh on sentiment. Fox Business: Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and execution concerns — Meta continues to plan massive capex (Meta Compute, data centers, nuclear prepayments). Some investors fear the pace/scale of spending and execution risk, and high-profile critics (e.g., Michael Burry commentary) amplify downside pressure. Benzinga: Michael Burry critique
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory noise — Brazil’s antitrust suspension of a WhatsApp policy and Australia account‑removal/teen‑ban issues add jurisdictional regulatory risk that could create headline volatility. TechCrunch: Brazil WhatsApp order

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.