New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in Q3, selling 3,800 shares and leaving it with 98,050 shares worth $72,006,000, about 2.2% of the fund's portfolio and its 5th-largest holding.
• Insiders have been net sellers: CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares for roughly $36.5M, directors also sold, and insiders disposed of 161,965 shares worth about $103.8M over the past 90 days (insiders still own 13.61%).
• Meta shows strong bullish catalysts—potential multi‑year Nebius AI/cloud deal (~$27B), a custom MTIA chip program with Broadcom, analyst price-target upgrades and recent earnings beats—but faces material legal, regulatory and security risks (child‑safety trial, rogue AI data exposure, UK ad compliance issues) that could weigh on near‑term sentiment.

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,050 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.2% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $72,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $846.63.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $593.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $649.23 and a 200-day moving average of $673.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 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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