Pictet North America Advisors SA Sells 1,042 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Pictet North America Advisors SA lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,042 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.3% of Pictet North America Advisors SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:META opened at $646.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $641.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $703.93.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Benchmark downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.89.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong demand for Meta’s new Ray?Ban Display AI glasses suggests traction for Reality Labs hardware, which could help narrow losses if Meta scales production and sales. Meta’s New AI Glasses See “Unprecedented Demand”: What to Know
• Positive Sentiment: EU digital rule overhaul reportedly spares big tech from the strictest measures, reducing the probability of near?term heavy regulatory constraints on Meta’s ad and platform businesses in Europe. Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary emphasizing Meta’s strong growth and profitability (Rule of 40) and continued AI investment supports a constructive longer?term view, helping underpin the stock despite short?term noise. Meta Platforms: Rule Of 40 Says Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paused the international rollout of Ray?Ban Display glasses to prioritize U.S. demand amid limited inventory — a mixed signal: strong U.S. uptake but delayed international revenue contribution. Meta delays Ray-Ban Display glasses global rollout due to inventory limits, U.S. demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Guggenheim trimmed its price target on META from $875 to $800 while keeping a Buy rating — slightly reduced upside in Street targets but still constructive from that analyst. Benzinga: Guggenheim lowers Meta price target
• Negative Sentiment: China’s Commerce Ministry said it will assess and investigate Meta’s acquisition of Manus for compliance with export and security rules — this raises the risk the deal could be blocked, delayed, or subject to conditions and is the primary near?term negative catalyst for the stock. China to assess, investigate Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Oliván disclosed a small sale of 517 shares (part of recurring small disposals), which can be perceived negatively by some investors even though the position remains substantial. SEC filing: Javier Oliván sale

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.41, for a total transaction of $336,261.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 11,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,598,740.03. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,555 shares of company stock worth $25,869,502. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.