South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 113,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,976 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $83,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total value of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. The trade was a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 160,410 shares of company stock valued at $102,809,055 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square materially added META, making it ~11.4% of the fund — a high-profile institutional endorsement that can attract other funds and provide buying pressure. Bill Ackman’s Eyes Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: AMD announced a multi‑year, gigawatt‑scale AI infrastructure partnership with Meta valued at over $100B, signaling Meta’s heavy, near‑term capex and commitment to build out AI data centers — positive for long‑term moats and AI roadmap execution. AMD Meta AI Deal Puts Valuation Gap
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report billionaires and hedge funds accumulating META, reflecting conviction that Meta is underpriced relative to its AI and ad-recovery prospects — this flows into demand and sentiment. Billionaires Are Loading Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlights Meta’s cheapness vs. the S&P and its AI ambitions (articles exploring $800 targets and comparative valuation). These narratives support longer‑term upside but are not immediate catalysts. Nvidia and Meta Platforms Are Now Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Sheryl Sandberg joining the board of an AI data‑center company (Nscale) and large fundraising in the sector indicate expanding data‑center capacity and a growing ecosystem that indirectly benefits Meta’s AI ambitions. Impact is positive but indirect. The Former Coal Miner in the Middle of the A.I. Data Center Boom
• Negative Sentiment: Surging oil and energy prices are cited as a risk, raising operating and data‑center cooling costs; macro energy cost pressure could weigh on margins and act as a near‑term headwind. Surging Oil Prices Threaten NVIDIA, Amazon, and Meta

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ:META opened at $644.86 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $654.99 and its 200-day moving average is $680.69. 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 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms Company 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.