Veltria Advisors Corp. Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Veltria Advisors Corp. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 86.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 292 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,929 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Veltria Advisors Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Veltria Advisors Corp.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,475,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $845.50.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of META opened at $668.69 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $658.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $694.25. 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) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This trade represents a 9.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares in the company, valued at $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 39,078 shares of company stock valued at $24,016,453 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a roughly $2B (~10% of the fund) position, calling META undervalued and an AI beneficiary — a high?profile institutional endorsement that can attract other buyers and supports the AI growth narrative. Ackman Bets on Meta (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware traction: EssilorLuxottica says it more than tripled sales of Meta AI (Ray?Ban) glasses in 2025 — evidence Reality Labs products can scale and diversify revenue beyond ads if momentum continues. Ray?Ban Maker Triples Meta AI Glasses Sales (CNBC)
• Positive Sentiment: AI capacity bet: Meta began construction on a $10B Indiana data center to expand AI compute — a long?term positive for ad/product innovation, though it raises near?term capex. Meta $10B Indiana Data Center (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/investor interest: Multiple funds (Fisher, others) increased stakes and several brokers raised price targets or reiterated overweight ratings — supportive for sentiment. Analyst Coverage & Institutional Activity (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares (~$343k) — a modest, routine sale that is unlikely to signal major change in outlook by itself. Insider Filing (SEC)
• Negative Sentiment: Russia blocks WhatsApp: Authorities removed WhatsApp from an official directory, effectively blocking the app for ~100M users — a material engagement and revenue risk in that market. Russia Blocks WhatsApp (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational pressure: Day?to?day trial testimony (former execs, witnesses) alleges platform harms; defense testimony (Instagram chief) seeks to limit addiction claims — but litigation uncertainty and potential regulatory action remain a drag. Trial Coverage (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Regional legal loss: A German court told a Meta subsidiary to pay ~€30M to Deutsche Telekom — modest financially but a reminder of ongoing operational/legal frictions. German Ruling (Reuters)

About Meta Platforms

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.