HS Management Partners LLC Has $35.89 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

HS Management Partners LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 30,705 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.7% of HS Management Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wedbush cut 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. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $822.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares in the company, valued at $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 40,571 shares of company stock worth $25,137,541 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $620.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $641.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $700.22. 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 current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.