Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Sarasin & Partners LLP’s 5th Largest Position

Sarasin & Partners LLP lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 613,477 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,731 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 4.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $456,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $1,590,690.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $664.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $657.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $707.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. Sell-side 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 Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.28%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baird reaffirmed an “Outperform” rating on META and kept a high price target (trimmed slightly to $815), signaling continued analyst confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven margin upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report analysts remain generally bullish on Meta heading into 2026, supporting demand for shares as investors position for AI monetization and ad strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: reports of a new “Mango” AI model and a software update improving noise reduction for Meta’s AI glasses bolster prospects for differentiated AI features that can lift user engagement and ad effectiveness. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad product execution: Ads Uploader exiting beta in 30 countries could improve ad operations for agencies (incremental revenue/enhanced ad spend efficiency), but impact will be gradual. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary notes momentum cooling below resistance around $675 — useful for short‑term traders but not a direct fundamental change. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Two insider sales were filed this week: Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares and COO Javier Oliván sold 517 shares — small dollar amounts relative to insider holdings but sometimes interpreted negatively by short‑term traders. Newstead SEC Filing Oliván SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Product/policy headwinds: reports that Meta is testing pay‑walls for URLs in Facebook posts and limiting links could hurt creators and small business marketers, a potential risk to engagement and ad demand if widespread. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk: FTC data highlights $65M in rental scams since 2020 that often originate on Facebook, reminding investors of regulatory and trust issues that could pressure engagement or attract enforcement. Article Title

Meta Platforms 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.