Ninety One SA Pty Ltd Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ninety One SA Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 89.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,765 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,359 shares during the period. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 24,946 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $16,466,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 2,498 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,649,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 5,692 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,757,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 285 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,088 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $22,501,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,600 shares of company stock valued at $106,023,973. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven ad thesis and upbeat Q1 outlook — analysts and bullish commentators say Meta’s ad revenue is being re-accelerated by AI improvements, and some expect another beat-and-raise around the April 29 results, supporting upside for shares. Meta Q1: AI Ad Thesis Getting Stronger
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic infrastructure partnerships — Meta signed a pact with Overview Energy for space-based solar to power data centers (longer-term operational/energy advantage) and a multi-year partnership with CBRE to train fiber technicians, both reinforcing infrastructure and cost/scale plans. Meta partners with space startup Overview Energy to secure solar power for data centers Meta Platforms (META) Partners With CBRE to Train Fiber Technicians
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial AI partnerships with cloud providers — broader coverage of AI partnerships (including reports that AWS and others are working with AI players) underscores demand for Meta’s AI-driven products and ad monetization potential. Amazon Is About to Report Q1 Earnings. Do Options Traders Expect a Major Move in AMZN Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Big Tech earnings theme — the upcoming Magnificent Seven reports (including Meta) are being framed around AI monetization and cloud demand; this macro narrative can lift or pressure META depending on actual ad/cloud signals. Big Tech faces key earnings test on AI spending and cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional interest — Meta appears on several “top buy” lists and remains heavily held by hedge funds, which supports liquidity but can increase volatility around earnings. 5 Best Big Name Stocks to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: China blocks Manus acquisition — Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its ~$2B purchase of Manus, a setback for Meta’s agentic-AI capability buildout and a reminder of geopolitical risk in cross-border AI deals; this is the biggest immediate negative catalyst. China vetoes Meta's $2B Manus deal after months-long probe
• Negative Sentiment: Options/volatility and margin concerns — some observers warn that heavy bullish options positioning and rising AI-related spending (Reality Labs and infra/CapEx) leave META exposed to a post-earnings volatility collapse or margin-pressure-driven pullback. Meta's Stock May Plunge Following Results Buy, Sell or Hold Meta Platforms Stock? Key Tips Ahead of Q1 Earnings

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $678.62 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $629.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $648.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.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 company posted $8.02 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's 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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