Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Lifted by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,186 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.8% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the second 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 262,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. Read More.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total value of $343,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,780. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 39,077 shares of company stock valued at $23,955,958 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $848.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $691.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $655.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $695.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

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.