Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,190 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,166,000 after buying an additional 1,016,667 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%

META opened at $655.66 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $656.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $689.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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 return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $4,106,043.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 73,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,924,570.42. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 28,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,469,022 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 target price (up previously from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three 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, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.29.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Secured multiyear GPU/CPU and codesign deal with NVIDIA that locks supply and a roadmap (Rubin/Vera, confidential computing) — this makes Meta’s AI rollout and large‑scale personalization (e.g., WhatsApp agents) more credible and is a primary driver of investor buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Latest results and marketing metrics show AI is improving ad efficiency — Q4 revenue and EPS beat and stronger ad metrics support the thesis that AI can monetize engagement and help justify infrastructure spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional/activist positioning (including Bill Ackman / Pershing Square and other funds adding stakes) is providing conviction behind the rally and reduces short‑term supply risk. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Horizon Worlds is being repositioned to mobile and explicitly decoupled from Quest VR — this reduces near‑term execution risk for Reality Labs but also signals less near‑term upside if VR hardware adoption stalls. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/ecosystem updates (revived smartwatch plans; third‑party “Made for Meta” integrations like Virtuix) expand the device roadmap but are unlikely to move core ad revenue near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Very large 2026 CapEx guidance (~$115–$135B) raises real margin and ROIC risk — if AI monetization lags, the spending could compress returns and leave Meta exposed to depreciating infrastructure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Notable insider selling (COO, CFO and at least one director disclosed multi‑trade sales) can add short‑term supply and raises questions about timing of personal liquidity events. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and child‑safety scrutiny (Zuckerberg testimony, PTA distancing, and public reporting on content/encryption tradeoffs) is an overhang that could affect user engagement, regulatory costs or ad targeting over time. Read More.

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.