Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 75.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $648.69 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $641.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $704.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.22.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong demand for Meta’s new Ray‑Ban Display AI glasses supports future hardware upside and Reality Labs growth potential — the company says waitlists extend into 2026, suggesting early product-market fit that could improve long-term monetization. Meta’s New AI Glasses See “Unprecedented Demand”
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness around Meta’s combined growth and profitability (a high “Rule of 40” score) reinforces buy case for investors focused on AI-driven revenue expansion and strong margins. Meta Platforms: Rule Of 40 Says Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing the international rollout of Ray‑Ban Display glasses due to “unprecedented” U.S. demand and limited inventory — positive for U.S. unit economics but delays near‑term international revenue and prolongs uncertainty over manufacturing scale. Meta delays global rollout of Ray‑Ban glasses
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire: Meta appointed C.J. Mahoney (formerly at Microsoft and with government experience) as chief legal officer — a hiring that may strengthen regulatory and litigation navigation amid increasing scrutiny. Meta names Microsoft’s Mahoney as chief legal officer
• Negative Sentiment: Chinese officials are reportedly reviewing Meta’s $2B acquisition of AI startup Manus for possible technology control violations — added regulatory risk that could delay integration or limit strategic options in China. China reviews Meta’s purchase of Manus
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Oliván sold 517 shares (reducing his stake ~4.24% of holdings disclosed) — a small dollar amount but often viewed negatively by some investors as a signal to monitor. SEC filing for insider sale

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.41, for a total value of $336,261.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,598,740.03. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,555 shares of company stock worth $25,869,502. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.