Renaissance Group LLC Has $44.82 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Renaissance Group LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,058 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares in the company, valued at $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.19, for a total transaction of $342,869.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,033,702.62. The trade was a 5.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,413 shares of company stock worth $14,472,032 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $657.63 and a 200-day moving average of $693.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

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.