ING Groep NV Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

ING Groep NV lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 369,097 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 28,150 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.5% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $271,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.29.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $643.22 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $656.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $691.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. 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 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,418 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $4,106,043.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 73,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,924,570.42. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,158 shares of company stock worth $12,992,197. 13.61% of the stock is 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.