Wallington Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Wallington Asset Management LLC reduced its Meta stake by 31.7% in Q4, selling 11,079 shares and ending the period with 23,925 shares valued at $15.79 million (about 2.0% of its portfolio and its 23rd largest holding).
• Meta reported a strong quarter—EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16 est. and revenue $59.89 billion (up 23.8% year‑over‑year)—and the company has a $1.45 trillion market cap with a PE of 24.45.
• There has been notable insider selling (161,448 shares worth ~$103.3 million in the past 90 days), while analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $843.57 and several recent target increases.

Wallington Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,925 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 11,079 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.0% of Wallington Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted 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 valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $574.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $637.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $660.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 firm 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, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 161,448 shares of company stock valued at $103,333,788 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial boosted 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, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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 given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $843.57.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta's Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat's next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

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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