Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 68,950 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,629 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $50,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penney Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Bill Few Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 866 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target (down from $850.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $687.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $955.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.49 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $667.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $632.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.16%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta priced a $25 billion Class A common-stock offering and a $12.5 billion mandatory convertible preferred-stock offering, with proceeds earmarked for its artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The common offering reportedly attracted demand several times greater than the shares available, suggesting institutional interest in Meta’s AI strategy. Meta offering pricing
• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia plans to invest $3 billion in Meta and expand its partnership around Meta’s Muse AI assistant and models. The deal provides third-party validation for Meta’s AI ambitions and may help secure access to Nvidia hardware. Nvidia invests in Meta partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong: ad impressions increased 10% year over year, average ad prices rose 14%, and AI improvements reportedly lifted app-ad conversions by 9.6%. Early adoption of Muse and new AI experiments such as Waddle World could create future commerce and subscription revenue. Meta AI risk and reward
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta delayed indefinitely the rollout of new commercial terms after publisher objections. The move could reduce near-term conflict but leaves unresolved questions about the company’s relationship with media organizations and use of publisher content. Meta delays commercial terms
• Negative Sentiment: The major concern is dilution: Meta is pursuing nearly $98 billion in equity financing, including new common and convertible preferred securities. Investors appear worried that the funding will reduce per-share value even if it finances long-term AI growth. Meta stock analysis and dilution
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is weighing heavily on near-term financials. Capital expenditures reached $34.9 billion, producing negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion, while higher spending and legal costs pressured margins. This has led some analysts to downgrade the stock, despite revenue exceeding expectations. Meta AI spending downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $1.0 million in two transactions. Both sales were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their significance as a signal of management’s outlook. SEC insider transaction filing

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.