Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Sells 818 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,514 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 818 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.4% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $639.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $657.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $693.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms 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 value of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the 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 owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,530 shares of company stock worth $15,150,029. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.