Westend Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Westend Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,664 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.1% of Westend Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s acquisition of AI startup Manus (reported >$2B) is being viewed as strategically accretive — Manus has rapid ARR growth and deployed AI agents at scale, which could strengthen Meta’s business-focused AI offerings and ad performance. Why Meta’s +$2B AI Startup Acquisition Could Be a Huge Win
• Positive Sentiment: Research/coverage remains upbeat: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Buy on META, and commentators (including Jim Cramer) have highlighted Meta as a buy, supporting investor confidence. Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms Buy Rating for Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: Monetization tailwinds continue: the WSJ reports Instagram Reels has become a ~\$50B business — evidence Meta’s AI-driven ad products are driving revenue expansion. How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity has surged around META, signaling elevated trader interest and potential volatility but not a clear directional signal for fundamentals. Spotlight on Meta Platforms: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry pieces and stock roundups (Fool, 247WallSt) compare Meta to peers and include it in AI/tech buy lists — helpful context but not immediate catalysts. Meta Platforms vs. Pinterest
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has surfaced (including a ~\$341k sale by Jennifer Newstead and separate COO stock sales), which can spook investors despite being modest relative to Meta’s market cap. Jennifer Newstead Sells 519 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal pressure increased: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit over scam ads and Reuters ran an investigation alleging Meta misled regulators about fake ads — these raise reputational and potential legal risk that can weigh on the stock. U.S. Virgin Islands Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Scam Ads and User Safety

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total transaction of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,269,739 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $650.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $647.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $705.02.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.03 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.28%.

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.