37,760 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 37,760 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $275,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Schuylkill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. New Street Research decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $630.00 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $673.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $632.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were given a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.16%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta acquired Conductor, a startup whose AI agents can work in parallel to build software projects. The deal adds AI coding capabilities, though financial terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch: Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor
• Positive Sentiment: Investor demand for Meta’s bond offerings was strong: reports said orders for its U.S. sale reached about $58 billion. That suggests investors are willing to finance the company’s AI expansion. Reuters: Meta draws record orders for debut euro bond sale
• Positive Sentiment: Arista Networks said Meta remains one of its customers accounting for more than 10% of revenue, highlighting Meta’s role in demand for AI data-center infrastructure. Arista Networks Cashes In on the AI Infrastructure Build
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan reported stock sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The planned nature of the transactions makes them less informative as a signal about management’s near-term outlook. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is raising billions through U.S. and euro bond sales to fund AI infrastructure and expansion. One report said the company agreed to pay 7.5% on 30-year debt, pointing to a substantial financing cost as investment spending grows. Meta Just Paid 7.5% to Borrow for 30 Years

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.15, for a total transaction of $580,985.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 4,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,330.10. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,090 shares of company stock worth $103,150,807. 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.