Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP trimmed its stake in Meta by 1.2%, selling 21,449 shares in Q3 and now holds 1,709,876 shares (~0.07% of META) valued at $1,255,699,000, making Meta its 6th largest holding (~2.6% of the portfolio).
• Significant insider selling: CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares and CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares, with insiders offloading 161,446 shares worth $103.45M over the past 90 days.
• Earnings beat and dividend: Meta reported $8.88 EPS (vs. $8.16 expected) and $59.89B revenue (up 23.8% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 ($2.10 annualized, 0.3% yield; ex-dividend Mar 16).

Korea Investment CORP decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,709,876 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 21,449 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of Korea Investment CORP's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,255,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $654.86 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average is $654.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $679.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 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 firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.94%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Rolled out a roadmap of four new in‑house AI chips to expand data‑center capacity and cut dependence on third‑party hardware — a move that should lower long‑term costs and support Meta’s AI scale and margins. Meta unveils plans for batch of in-house AI chips
• Positive Sentiment: Acquired Moltbook, a viral social network for AI agents, and brought its founders into Meta’s Superintelligence Labs — an inexpensive talent & capability win that reinforces Meta’s AI roadmap and content‑generation/testing capabilities. Meta acquires AI agent social network Moltbook
• Positive Sentiment: Launched AI‑powered anti‑scam tools across WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger — a user‑safety boost that can protect engagement and advertiser confidence on its platforms. Meta rolls out new scam detection tools to Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger
• Neutral Sentiment: Street commentary (Evercore/Barron’s) suggests internet names including META may be oversold after AI worries and geopolitical risk — a catalyst that could attract value buyers but depends on macro sentiment. Amazon, Uber, and Other Internet Stocks Look Too Cheap After AI and Iran Worries
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan sold multiple blocks of shares (hundreds of shares reported), trimming his position — a near‑term negative signal that can weigh on sentiment even if routine. SEC filing: Javier Olivan sales
• Negative Sentiment: Announced a 2–5% “location fee” for advertisers to cover some European digital taxes — could pressure ad rates/advertiser spend in affected markets and be a small drag on revenue growth. Meta to charge advertisers a fee to offset Europe's digital taxes
• Negative Sentiment: Dutch appeals court upheld a ruling forcing Meta to offer chronological feeds in the Netherlands — a regulatory loss that could affect engagement/personalization and set precedents for further restrictions. Dutch court upholds ruling forcing Meta to offer chronological feeds

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,446 shares of company stock worth $103,451,688. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $844.44.

About Meta Platforms

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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