Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 1,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,100 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.2% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $130,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd increased its stake 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 buying an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,950 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,837,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.96.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $631.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $641.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $702.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.27 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — TD Cowen raised its price target on META to $820 and kept a Buy rating, giving investors a near‑term valuation upside narrative amid the recent pullback. Benzinga: TD Cowen price target
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger commercial demand for Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses — Meta and EssilorLuxottica are reportedly discussing doubling production capacity (10M→20M units, with upside to 30M) this year, signaling product-market fit for AI wearables and potential revenue growth outside advertising. Reuters: doubling Ray‑Ban output
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire to drive AI strategy — Meta named Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to help steer its AI and infrastructure buildout, a governance move investors see as strengthening execution. Reuters: Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic repositioning in Reality Labs — Wedbush views the cuts and resource reallocation as a discipline shift toward consumer wearables (and away from broad metaverse bets), which could improve capital efficiency but delays returns. ProactiveInvestors: Wedbush on Reality Labs cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy/infrastructure play — Meta’s Meta Compute and deals (including the Oklo prepayment) to secure gigawatt‑scale baseload power are a long‑term moat for AI scale but lock in very large capex outlays and long timelines. MarketBeat: Meta energy strategy / Oklo
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs job cuts and restructuring — Reports say Meta will cut ~10–15% of Reality Labs (1,000–1,500 jobs) as it shifts from VR/metaverse projects to AI wearables; this highlights past capital waste and near‑term restructuring costs that weigh on sentiment. Fox Business: Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and execution concerns — Meta continues to plan massive capex (Meta Compute, data centers, nuclear prepayments). Some investors fear the pace/scale of spending and execution risk, and high-profile critics (e.g., Michael Burry commentary) amplify downside pressure. Benzinga: Michael Burry critique
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory noise — Brazil’s antitrust suspension of a WhatsApp policy and Australia account‑removal/teen‑ban issues add jurisdictional regulatory risk that could create headline volatility. TechCrunch: Brazil WhatsApp order

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,799,940 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.