Clarius Group LLC Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Clarius Group LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,567 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,978 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.5% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $920.00 to $880.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baird and other sell‑side analysts remain constructive (Baird reaffirmed “Outperform” with a high price target), supporting demand from long‑only funds positioning for AI monetization and ad recovery. Baird Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: press and analyst pieces on Meta’s new “Mango” AI model and a noise‑reduction update for its AI glasses suggest continued product differentiation that could lift engagement and ad monetization over time. Mango AI model AI glasses update
• Positive Sentiment: Sektor/flow support: sector‑rotation chatter favors Communication Services (heavy weightings to Meta and Alphabet), which has attracted institutional flows into XLC and indirectly supports META’s sentiment. Sector rotation
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter is mixed: social‑media and QuiverQuant summaries highlight both optimism about ad recovery and concern over heavy AI spend and timing of returns; institutional repositioning data is noisy. QuiverQuant summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed shows effectively zero days to cover (likely a data artifact); not meaningful for current positioning unless revised.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Italy’s antitrust watchdog ordered Meta to suspend WhatsApp terms that could exclude rival AI chatbots — a material policy/regulatory development that could limit Meta’s control over WhatsApp integrations and affect product/AI strategies in Europe. Reuters: Italy order TechCrunch
• Negative Sentiment: Product/policy risks: reports that Meta is testing link limits/pay‑walls for URLs in Facebook posts may hurt creators and small business marketers — a potential headwind for engagement and ad demand if rolled out broadly. Inc: link limits MSN
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent small disclosed sales by COO Javier Oliván and CLO Jennifer Newstead have been publicized — modest in size but sometimes interpreted negatively by short‑term traders. Oliván SEC filing Newstead SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Capital‑intensity concerns: commentators and videos are flagging Meta’s very large AI investments (debate around ~$75B scale) and the timing of returns — a persistent risk for margins and near‑term cash flow until monetization ramps. YouTube: AI bet discussion

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total value of $341,793.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,335.87. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $666.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $656.79 and a 200-day moving average of $706.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued 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%.

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.