Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI Sells 1,331 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,848 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 5.3% of Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $62,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Next Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 16,713 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,273,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 24,656 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,107,000 after purchasing an additional 12,100 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,413.3% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 16,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,824,000 after purchasing an additional 15,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,649,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $307,040.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,530 shares of company stock worth $15,150,029 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 price target (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $845.50.

More 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

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of 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 stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $657.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $693.35. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.