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

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems cut its Meta stake by 9%, selling 37,760 shares in the third quarter; it still held 379,734 shares valued at about $275.4 million.
• Meta beat quarterly estimates, reporting $7.40 in earnings per share and $64.6 billion in revenue; revenue rose 26.1% year over year.
• Analysts maintained a broadly positive view, with Meta rated “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.12.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 379,734 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 37,760 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $275,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,777 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939 shares during the period. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 33.6% during the second quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,031 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. William John Sempolinski purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $3,107,000. Sone Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 38.2% during the second quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC now owns 16,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440 shares during the period. Finally, Lakewood Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.7% during the second quarter. Lakewood Capital Management LP now owns 115,985 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $65,333,000 after purchasing an additional 45,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $2,514,330.10. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 151,090 shares of company stock valued at $103,150,807. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $630.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $779.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $673.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $632.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $886.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $850.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $850.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $833.12.

Key Stories 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

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.

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