Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 982 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Valley National Advisers Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,163 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 982 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Crake Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth approximately $41,498,000. Finally, Copperleaf Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the first quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $660.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $649.05 and a 200-day moving average of $705.38. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $51.24 billion during 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. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given 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 was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,269,739. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s strategic AI push: Market reaction is mildly positive to Meta’s recent ~+$2B acquisition of AI agent startup Manus — investors see it as a direct revenue/advertising adjutant (agentic automation for businesses) that could accelerate AI-driven monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street and pundits still constructive: Rosenblatt and other brokers have reiterated buy ratings and some commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) are bullish on buying META, supporting demand for shares on conviction that AI investments can pay off long term. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong product monetization trend: reports on Instagram Reels scaling into a multibillion-dollar ad product underpin medium-term revenue growth, but this is already priced in and won’t offset near-term capex concerns by itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risk: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed suit alleging Meta profited from scam ads and failed to protect children — a headline that raises litigation, reputational and potential regulatory enforcement risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investigation alleges deceptive conduct: a Reuters-based investigation (covered here) says Meta created a “playbook” to fend off pressure and may have tried to mislead regulators about fake/ad scam handling — this amplifies regulatory scrutiny and could pressure near-term sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / governance headlines: recent small-block sales by COO Javier Oliván and CLO Jennifer Newstead have produced negative headlines (but are small relative to overall insider holdings). Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory scrutiny on acquisition: Manus’ founders’ China ties have drawn attention in Washington — potential extra review or integration delays increase execution risk for the AI deal. Read More.

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.