C WorldWide Group Holding A S Buys New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 33,510 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,609,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of META stock opened at $639.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $657.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $693.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Roth Mkm cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total value of $342,869.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,033,702.62. This represents a 5.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,530 shares of company stock worth $15,150,029. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.