Conning Inc. Sells 1,108 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Conning Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,575 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,108 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after purchasing an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,489,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,694,644,000 after purchasing an additional 262,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will roll out ads on Threads globally next week, expanding a monetization channel on a platform with 400M+ monthly users and improving the ad‑growth narrative. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy and a $910 PT and TD Cowen lifted its target to $820 while reporting Meta will double production of Meta Glasses — signals of continued analyst conviction and product investment upside. Meta pullback creates upside opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab has delivered its first internal models, per the CTO — tangible progress on AI development that supports the company’s long‑term AI narrative and could assuage some investor concerns about the ROI of heavy AI spending. Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat preview flags that the upcoming Q4 results will be driven as much by Meta’s 2026 CapEx guidance and expense outlook as by revenue/EPS — a clear catalyst that could swing the stock depending on how aggressive spending guidance is. META Q4 Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces an approaching New Mexico child‑safety trial; company lawyers are trying to limit evidence — a legal overhang that adds regulatory and reputational risk. Meta seeks to limit evidence in child safety case
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst moves and investor actions are mixed-to-negative: UBS trimmed its price target and Meta was reported trading down after that downgrade; a director sold 580 shares — small signals but they can amplify near‑term volatility. UBS lowers Meta price target

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Mizuho decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $821.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,632 shares of company stock worth $25,055,572 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $647.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $641.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $697.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm 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 earned $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.