Touchstone Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,978 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Touchstone Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,978 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,390,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.3% of Touchstone Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring 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 purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.5%

META stock opened at $612.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $640.41 and its 200 day moving average is $697.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta will begin showing ads on Threads globally next week — Threads has passed ~400M users and data suggests rapid DAU growth versus X; global ad availability is a direct near?term revenue catalyst as the company starts to monetize that audience. Meta to begin rolling out Threads ads globally
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI lab (Superintelligence Labs) has delivered its first in?house models, per the CTO — this progress supports product differentiation, reduces dependency on third?party models, and improves the narrative around AI ROI for Meta’s heavy capex. Exclusive: Meta’s new AI team has delivered first key models
• Positive Sentiment: Oklo’s stock upgrade highlights Meta’s agreement to use advanced nuclear power for data centers — a multi?year, binding energy supply deal could lower long?term data?center energy costs and improve sustainability credentials. Oklo Stock Upgraded to Buy. Meta Nuclear Deal Is a ‘Meaningful Step Forward.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS trimmed its price target (from $915 to $830) but kept a buy rating — analysts still see upside, though the lowered target highlights ongoing uncertainty around timing/returns of AI investments. UBS lowers META price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta cut ~1,500 Reality Labs roles and reported additional smaller layoffs — a cost?reduction move that trims losses in non?core metaverse projects but signals scaling back of prior bets. Meta lays off 331 workers in Washington state
• Negative Sentiment: The FTC will appeal its loss in the antitrust case over Instagram and WhatsApp — renewed legal risk keeps a regulatory overhang that could drive volatility and potential future remedies. FTC will appeal ruling in Meta antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Some customers left Manus after Meta’s ~$2B acquisition — customer attrition and privacy concerns around the buy create execution and reputational risk for Meta’s AI push. Meta’s $2 billion Manus deal pushes away some customers
• Negative Sentiment: UK regulator alleges Meta profited from illegal gambling ads — another regulatory/PR headwind that could prompt stricter oversight or fines in key markets. Britain accuses Meta of profiting from illegal gambling ads
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale: a director sold 580 shares (filed disclosure) — small size but sometimes taken by investors as a modest negative signal. Insider filing: Kimmitt sale

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 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 value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,115 shares of company stock valued at $24,741,055. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.55.

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.