Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 270,527 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,255,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 270,527 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Nordea Investment Management AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,492,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $872.00 price objective (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.63.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: CTO Andrew Bosworth will lead Meta’s “AI for Work” initiatives, signaling a top-down push to embed AI across operations that could improve productivity and long-term margins. Meta Names New Leader of Company’s Efforts To Become AI Native
• Positive Sentiment: Meta hired the Dreamer team to scale personalized AI agents, strengthening its talent and product roadmap for agentic AI — a strategic move that supports future ad/product monetization. Meta Recruits Dreamer Team to Scale Personalized AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is building in-house AI infrastructure (custom MTIA chips and optical interconnect work) to lower long-term AI costs and secure supply — a step that could expand gross margins as GenAI demand grows. Meta’s Custom AI Chips And Optical Links Reframe Long Term Margins
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group upgraded META to Buy, citing AI investments and pricing power — a supportive analyst signal that may attract some buyers despite near-term volatility. Erste Group Upgrades Meta (META) to Buy, Highlights the Company’s AI Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is experimenting with internal CEO/exec AI agents and paying creators to boost engagement — these are strategic experiments that could help product engagement but are not guaranteed to move near-term revenue. Meta Will Pay Influencers Up to $3,000/Month to Post on Facebook
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest figures in the feed appear inconsistent/zero and are not providing clear bearish pressure today (data unreliable).
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled consumers and failed to protect minors from predators — a significant legal loss that raises potential damages exposure, regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk; a separate Los Angeles trial remains unresolved and could add further liability. Meta Ordered to Pay $375 Million Over Child Safety Violations
• Negative Sentiment: Additional legal pressure: a lawsuit alleges Meta targeted older workers in layoffs — another potential litigation headline that can add to near-term uncertainty. Lawsuit Claims Meta Platforms Targeted Older Workers in Layoffs

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $592.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $647.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $670.27. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $585,250.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,261 shares in the company, valued at $9,013,237.22. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,929 shares of company stock worth $103,074,540. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.