Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,048 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,366 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.9% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $40,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during 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 buying an additional 682,768 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 262,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $643.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $656.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $691.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) 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 revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.29.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large multiyear chip deal with NVIDIA — Meta agreed to buy millions of NVIDIA GPUs and adopt NVIDIA CPUs, networking and rack-scale designs, securing chip supply and lowering future latency/costs for its AI data centers; this is the primary driver of today’s upside. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Deepened strategic alliance and codesign roadmap — coverage highlights a multigenerational NVIDIA–Meta pact (Rubin/Vera architectures, confidential computing) that supports Meta’s Personal Superintelligence vision and signals durable hardware demand. NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance—and the Spending Numbers Are Enormous
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and bullish hedge-fund activity — high-profile investors (reports about Bill Ackman and David Tepper) have increased exposure to Meta on its AI growth thesis, adding conviction behind the rally. Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Betting Big on AI David Tepper goes big on Micron, Meta and Alphabet
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware/product roadmap noise — reports that Meta may debut a smartwatch in 2026 and ongoing XR ecosystem moves (third‑party “Made for Meta” partners) suggest product expansion but limited near-term revenue impact. Meta reboots smartwatch plan, aims debut in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior execs — recent filings show substantial share sales by COO Javier Olivan and CFO Susan Li, which can signal portfolio liquidity-taking and add short-term selling pressure. Olivan SEC filing Li SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal overhangs — CEO Mark Zuckerberg is testifying in a high‑profile youth‑addiction trial, Spain is probing AI-generated content on social platforms, and India is discussing age-based curbs; these risks could pressure user growth, ad targeting or incur fines. Zuckerberg faces questioning at youth addiction trial Spain to probe Meta, TikTok, X India discussing age-based restrictions
• Negative Sentiment: Massive CapEx and margin risk — coverage highlights Meta’s elevated 2026 capex plans (reported guidance as high as ~$115–$135B in some writeups), which fuels concern about near‑term margin pressure and capital intensity if AI monetization lags. Marketbeat: NVIDIA and Meta Deepen Their AI Alliance

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $4,106,043.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 73,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,924,570.42. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,158 shares of company stock valued at $12,992,197. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.