Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. tru Independence LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,824,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 386.5% during the third quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,261 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 28.6% during the third quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,894,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the third quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 6,334 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Deals that de‑risk Meta’s AI/data‑center power needs — Meta has signed prepayment/partnership agreements (e.g., Oklo) to secure long‑term baseload energy for its Prometheus supercluster and broader Meta Compute buildout, lowering a major execution risk for its massive data‑center plans. Oklo’s Meta Deal De-Risks the Story—Rebound Setup Emerging
• Positive Sentiment: BofA and other firms show constructive analyst interest — BofA reiterated/maintained a buy stance tied to Meta’s AI infra progress; Rosenblatt and some boutiques have also been positive recently, which can support sentiment if execution continues. BofA Securities Asserts Buy Stance
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware demand signal — reports say Meta is discussing doubling Ray‑Ban Meta glasses output, signaling potential early revenue diversification from AI wearables beyond advertising. Meta mulls doubling output of Ray‑Ban glasses
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta Compute initiative is long‑term strategic but capital intensive — the plan to build “tens/hundreds of gigawatts” of compute capacity underscores AI ambition (control and optionality) but raises timing and ROI questions for investors. Meta Compute: Inside Zuckerberg’s Massive Data Center Bet
• Neutral Sentiment: Wikipedia/API partnerships broaden AI training access — Meta joins others to formalize access to Wikipedia content for LLM training; strategic but not an immediate revenue driver. Wikipedia signs AI content training deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Near‑term catalyst: Q4/2025 earnings and 2026 guidance (scheduled Jan. 28) — results and explicit capex/FCF guidance will likely be the primary short‑term driver. Meta to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs headcount cuts (~1,000–1,500 jobs) signal a pullback in metaverse investment — while lowering costs, the layoffs underscore a strategic pivot (and product risk) away from VR, which can unsettle investors focused on long‑term innovation stories. Meta Cuts Reality Labs Jobs
• Negative Sentiment: Capex and free‑cash‑flow pressure — analysts and articles highlight materially higher 2026 capex and declining LTM FCF, which has prompted some downgrades and valuation concerns; that pressure can weigh on the stock until FCF trends stabilize. Meta Compute: Capex/FCF analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / high‑profile sales — recent disclosures show COO Javier Olivan has sold blocks of shares; combined with other negative headlines this can amplify short‑term selling pressure. SEC filing: Olivan sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and valuation skepticism — some firms have trimmed targets or expressed caution about the funding intensity and timing of AI monetization, which keeps shares vulnerable to multiple compression. Analyst downgrade reports

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,571 shares of company stock worth $25,137,541. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $620.25 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $641.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $700.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued 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 was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

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.