Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by HighVista Strategies LLC

Key Points

• HighVista Strategies LLC increased its stake in Meta by 45.2% to 4,500 shares valued at $3.305 million, while institutional investors now own roughly 79.91% of the company.
• Company insiders have been net sellers — COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares and CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares, with insiders offloading 159,830 shares worth about $102.4 million in the last 90 days (insiders still own 13.61%).
• Analysts retain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of $844.44, and Meta recently reported an earnings beat (EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16) and $59.89 billion in revenue amid headlines about ~20% planned layoffs and a large AI infrastructure deal.

HighVista Strategies LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 45.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,500 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. HighVista Strategies LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Arete Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Roth Mkm cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $844.44.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 159,830 shares of company stock valued at $102,409,190 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is preparing to cut roughly 20% of its workforce pushed expectations for multi‑billion dollar annual cost savings and sparked a rally as investors priced in faster path to profitability. Meta shares jump after Reuters report on plans for layoffs of 20% or more
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating and reiterated a high price target, providing institutional support for the stock amid the headlines. Analysts set Meta stock price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta signed a large multi‑year AI infrastructure agreement with Nebius (reported up to $27B) — it secures compute capacity critical for scaling AI but also confirms very large future spend commitments. Markets see this as strategic but capital‑intensive. Meta signs deal worth up to $27 billion with Nebius for AI infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Several bullish analyst/strategy pieces argue the pullback is a buying opportunity given Meta’s scale, ad growth and AI monetization runway — providing counterweight to cost/CapEx concerns. Delays, Compute Deals, And Sky‑High CapEx: Why I'm Still Bullish On Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Nebius and other cloud partners have seen strong share moves on the deal, highlighting that Meta’s AI commitments are reshaping the supplier landscape even if the direct near‑term benefit to Meta is mixed. Meta's $27B AI Cloud Deal Sends Nebius Group Stock Soaring
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports flag surging AI spending, product delays (Avocado AI, smart glasses) and high CapEx plans — investors worry these investments could pressure margins and cash flow before monetization. Meta Reportedly Plans Job Cuts as AI Spending Surges
• Negative Sentiment: Advertiser pushback on a new Facebook/Instagram payment policy raises modest short‑term ad revenue execution risk if it leads to reduced spend from affected advertisers. Why some Facebook and Instagram advertisers are freaking out about a new payment policy
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/regulatory uncertainty — including EU debates over content‑detection rules — keeps policy risk on investors’ radars; outcomes could affect compliance costs and product implementations in Europe. EU fails to extend rules on child abuse content detection by online platforms

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2%

META stock opened at $627.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company's 50-day moving average price is $652.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $676.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Meta Platforms 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.

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