South Dakota Investment Council Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,976 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $83,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 64.8% during the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $644.86 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $654.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $680.69. 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 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 160,410 shares of company stock valued at $102,809,055 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $849.00 to $856.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $844.44.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square materially added META, making it ~11.4% of the fund — a high-profile institutional endorsement that can attract other funds and provide buying pressure. Bill Ackman’s Eyes Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: AMD announced a multi‑year, gigawatt‑scale AI infrastructure partnership with Meta valued at over $100B, signaling Meta’s heavy, near‑term capex and commitment to build out AI data centers — positive for long‑term moats and AI roadmap execution. AMD Meta AI Deal Puts Valuation Gap
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report billionaires and hedge funds accumulating META, reflecting conviction that Meta is underpriced relative to its AI and ad-recovery prospects — this flows into demand and sentiment. Billionaires Are Loading Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage highlights Meta’s cheapness vs. the S&P and its AI ambitions (articles exploring $800 targets and comparative valuation). These narratives support longer‑term upside but are not immediate catalysts. Nvidia and Meta Platforms Are Now Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Sheryl Sandberg joining the board of an AI data‑center company (Nscale) and large fundraising in the sector indicate expanding data‑center capacity and a growing ecosystem that indirectly benefits Meta’s AI ambitions. Impact is positive but indirect. The Former Coal Miner in the Middle of the A.I. Data Center Boom
• Negative Sentiment: Surging oil and energy prices are cited as a risk, raising operating and data‑center cooling costs; macro energy cost pressure could weigh on margins and act as a near‑term headwind. Surging Oil Prices Threaten NVIDIA, Amazon, and Meta

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.