Renaissance Group LLC Sells 3,058 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Renaissance Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,058 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile institutional support: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a multi‑billion dollar stake, signaling confidence in Meta’s AI pivot and likely attracting other institutional interest. Ackman stake
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst upside: Q4 earnings beat and bullish analyst notes (multiple price‑target raises and buy reiterations) support a constructive medium‑term view. Seeking Alpha bullish note
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware and AI investments showing early traction: Ray‑Ban AI glasses sales growth and Reality Labs repositioning give optionality beyond ads. Ray‑Ban sales
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (small yield) — positive for income investors but modest versus total return expectations. Dividend PR
• Neutral Sentiment: Large capex for AI: Meta broke ground on a ~$10B data‑center campus to boost AI compute — strengthens long‑term ad/AI moat but raises near‑term capex. Data center Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider/ownership moves mixed: CEO/COO small routine sales and some funds trimming while others add — notable but not a clear directional signal alone. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy and reputational risk from facial‑recognition plans for Ray‑Ban AI glasses: Reports that Meta plans a “Name Tag” feature have triggered renewed privacy concerns and could draw regulatory scrutiny or user backlash. NYT facial recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/access hit: Russia moved to block WhatsApp for ~100M users, a material engagement loss in that market. WhatsApp block
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and litigation noise: Ongoing trials and witness testimony alleging platform harm raise litigation/ reputational risk that can pressure sentiment and potentially cost fines or operational changes. Trial coverage

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $639.77 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $657.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $693.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,413 shares of company stock valued at $14,472,032. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

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.