Chicago Capital LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Chicago Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,054 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 5.3% of Chicago Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $214,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $641.97 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $641.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $702.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $822.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was 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 directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,519 shares of company stock worth $25,133,331. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta named Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair, a senior hire expected to help execute its large AI and infrastructure agenda. This adds experienced deal‑making and political connections to management. Reuters: Dina Powell joins Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched “Meta Compute” and reiterated plans to build gigawatt‑scale AI compute capacity — a strategic move to control AI infrastructure and product differentiation long term. Reuters: Meta Compute
• Positive Sentiment: Meta agreed to prepay/partner on large nuclear and energy projects (e.g., Oklo/Vistra) to secure baseload power for AI data centers — this reduces long‑term operating risk from grid constraints and could create a durable competitive moat. MarketBeat: Meta and Oklo energy deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive: Wells Fargo kept an overweight stance while slightly tweaking its price target, signaling continued analyst confidence in the multi‑year story. Benzinga: Wells Fargo note
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta rolled out a new performance program (“Checkpoint”) to reward top performers—could improve productivity but is mainly an HR/retention change. BI: Checkpoint program
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta adjusted WhatsApp policy scope in some markets (e.g., excluding Italy from a rival‑chatbot ban) — an operational compliance tweak that reduces friction in that market. Reuters: Italy exclusion
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans cuts of roughly 10–15% of Reality Labs staff and other Reality Labs layoffs were reported — signals that metaverse businesses remain a drag and that near‑term restructuring / impairment risk remains. Reuters: Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Brazil’s antitrust authority opened an investigation and suspended new WhatsApp Business terms — adding regulatory/legal risk and potential product friction in a large market. Reuters: Brazil probe
• Negative Sentiment: Meta removed ~550k accounts in Australia to comply with an under‑16 ban and publicly urged policy rethink — regulatory actions and user‑coverage limits create near‑term user growth and PR headwinds. Yahoo: Australia under‑16 ban

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.