Guinness Asset Management LTD Sells 3,405 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Guinness Asset Management LTD decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,405 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $52,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,530 shares of company stock valued at $15,150,029. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $639.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $657.63 and a 200 day moving average of $693.35.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend 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 presently 8.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Key Stories 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 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.