Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 214,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 10,261 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.1% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $157,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $44,119,937,000 after purchasing an additional 59,766,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $142,149,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong demand for Meta’s new Ray‑Ban Display AI glasses supports future hardware upside and Reality Labs growth potential — the company says waitlists extend into 2026, suggesting early product-market fit that could improve long-term monetization. Meta’s New AI Glasses See “Unprecedented Demand”
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness around Meta’s combined growth and profitability (a high “Rule of 40” score) reinforces buy case for investors focused on AI-driven revenue expansion and strong margins. Meta Platforms: Rule Of 40 Says Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing the international rollout of Ray‑Ban Display glasses due to “unprecedented” U.S. demand and limited inventory — positive for U.S. unit economics but delays near‑term international revenue and prolongs uncertainty over manufacturing scale. Meta delays global rollout of Ray‑Ban glasses
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire: Meta appointed C.J. Mahoney (formerly at Microsoft and with government experience) as chief legal officer — a hiring that may strengthen regulatory and litigation navigation amid increasing scrutiny. Meta names Microsoft’s Mahoney as chief legal officer
• Negative Sentiment: Chinese officials are reportedly reviewing Meta’s $2B acquisition of AI startup Manus for possible technology control violations — added regulatory risk that could delay integration or limit strategic options in China. China reviews Meta’s purchase of Manus
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Oliván sold 517 shares (reducing his stake ~4.24% of holdings disclosed) — a small dollar amount but often viewed negatively by some investors as a signal to monitor. SEC filing for insider sale

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $648.69 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $641.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $704.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 41,555 shares of company stock worth $25,869,502 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on META. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.22.

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.