Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Has $29.84 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 21,770 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.1% of Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $4,508,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 3,723 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,734,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 3,455 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,709 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 92.7% during the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 1,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat + AI narrative shift: Meta reported stronger‑than‑expected Q4 revenue and EPS and management framed ad strength as early proof that AI investments are improving monetization and engagement — a narrative some analysts now call an AI profit cycle. Meta’s Story Just Flipped — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Strong guidance & analyst upgrades: Q1 revenue guidance topped Street expectations and many firms raised price targets or reiterated buys, supporting the recent rally and giving institutional investors cover to support higher valuations. MarketBeat: Meta Soars After‑Hours
• Neutral Sentiment: Business diversification tests: Meta is piloting premium subscriptions for Instagram/Facebook/WhatsApp and expanding AI features — potential long‑term upside but unclear near‑term revenue impact. CNBC: Premium subscription tests
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply deals validate buildout but signal capital intensity: large supplier agreements (e.g., with Corning) back the AI data‑center plan while confirming heavy multi‑year spending. CNBC: Corning deal
• Negative Sentiment: Massive 2026 CapEx: Management guided to $115B–$135B of capex for 2026 — far above prior levels — raising near‑term cash intensity and margin dilution concerns despite management saying operating income should hold. Reuters: CapEx rise
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs drag: XR/Reality Labs continues to burn cash (multi‑billion losses), creating an ongoing margin headwind and execution risk for non‑ad businesses. TechCrunch: $19B VR burn
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory & reputational headlines: A New Mexico trial alleging platforms exposed minors to exploitation and reports about content‑blocking controversies add legal and reputational risk that can pressure multiple‑quarter sentiment. Reuters: New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term profit‑taking & headline noise: high short‑term expectations after the rally, occasional pundit criticism (e.g., Jim Cramer) and small insider sales add to volatility and can push the stock down after its run. 247WallSt: Jim Cramer critique

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Redburn Partners set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wedbush increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $847.98.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 40,113 shares of company stock worth $24,621,042 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $716.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.29. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $652.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $696.01.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. 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.