Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its Meta stake by 16.8% in Q4, selling 890,995 shares and leaving it with 4,399,233 shares (about $2.90 billion), making META its 13th largest holding (2.4% of the firm’s portfolio).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently: company insiders sold 164,562 shares worth about $105.3 million in the past three months, including COO Javier Oliván’s sale of 2,778 shares (~$1.75M) and a director’s 580‑share sale.
• Positive operational and analyst catalysts include Broadcom extending its AI partnership through 2029 and Meta breaking ground on a >$1B Tulsa data center with large energy‑storage reservations, while analysts have pushed price targets higher (UBS to $908; average target ~$837).

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,399,233 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 890,995 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.17% of Meta Platforms worth $2,903,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,565,949. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 164,562 shares of company stock valued at $105,310,238 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on META to $908, citing stronger GenAI-driven ad revenue potential and reaffirming a bullish view on the stock. UBS Hikes Meta Platforms’ Target From $872 to $908
• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating with a ~$900 target, another analyst endorsement supporting upside expectations. Citizens Jmp rating reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom extended its AI partnership with Meta through 2029, signaling longer-term infrastructure support and reduced single-vendor risk for Meta’s AI buildout. Broadcom & Meta Extend AI Pact Into 2029
• Positive Sentiment: Meta broke ground on a >$1B data center in Tulsa and reserved up to 1 GW / 100 GWh of long-duration energy storage with Noon Energy — both moves underline heavy capex toward AI compute and resilience. Meta breaks ground on over $1 billion data center in Oklahoma's Tulsa Noon Energy and Meta energy storage agreement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and previews point to a high‑expectation Q1 print (guidance implies ~30%+ revenue growth); earnings on Apr 29 and guidance will be market catalysts but results are not yet known. Meta Q1 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Bank of America trimmed its price target to $820 but kept a Buy rating — a mixed signal: still constructive but slightly less aggressive than other shops. BofA trims Meta Platforms price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: a Meta director sold about $387k of stock — a small single sale that warrants noting but is not a major red flag by itself. Director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: A consumer‑advocacy group filed a class-action complaint alleging Meta profited from scam ads and misled users about enforcement — renewed legal and regulatory risk that can pressure multiples and lead to costs. Consumer watchdog group files suit alleging Meta profited on ads for scams
• Negative Sentiment: Separate press coverage (Wired) underscores lawsuits over scam ads on Facebook/Instagram, amplifying reputational and litigation concerns. Meta Is Sued Over Scam Ads
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta will track employee keystrokes to train AI and preparations for layoffs (reported May 20 planning) raise privacy and morale risks that could attract negative attention and regulatory scrutiny. Meta to track employee keystrokes to train AI Meta Prepares for "May 20" Layoffs

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $860.00 price objective (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.09.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $668.84 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $486.36 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $627.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $650.10. The company has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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