Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 970,695 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,737 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Cerity Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $710,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Merchants Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the third quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 18,960 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,924,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Barry Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the third quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 413 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. NDVR Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.6% during the third quarter. NDVR Inc. now owns 1,437 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,921,000 after buying an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $631.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.29. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $641.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $702.20.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $810.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $822.96.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.41, for a total transaction of $336,261.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 11,683 shares in the company, valued at $7,598,740.03. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 40,054 shares of company stock worth $24,799,940 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — TD Cowen raised its price target on META to $820 and kept a Buy rating, giving investors a near‑term valuation upside narrative amid the recent pullback. Benzinga: TD Cowen price target
• Positive Sentiment: Stronger commercial demand for Ray‑Ban Meta smart glasses — Meta and EssilorLuxottica are reportedly discussing doubling production capacity (10M→20M units, with upside to 30M) this year, signaling product-market fit for AI wearables and potential revenue growth outside advertising. Reuters: doubling Ray‑Ban output
• Positive Sentiment: Executive hire to drive AI strategy — Meta named Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to help steer its AI and infrastructure buildout, a governance move investors see as strengthening execution. Reuters: Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic repositioning in Reality Labs — Wedbush views the cuts and resource reallocation as a discipline shift toward consumer wearables (and away from broad metaverse bets), which could improve capital efficiency but delays returns. ProactiveInvestors: Wedbush on Reality Labs cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy/infrastructure play — Meta’s Meta Compute and deals (including the Oklo prepayment) to secure gigawatt‑scale baseload power are a long‑term moat for AI scale but lock in very large capex outlays and long timelines. MarketBeat: Meta energy strategy / Oklo
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs job cuts and restructuring — Reports say Meta will cut ~10–15% of Reality Labs (1,000–1,500 jobs) as it shifts from VR/metaverse projects to AI wearables; this highlights past capital waste and near‑term restructuring costs that weigh on sentiment. Fox Business: Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and execution concerns — Meta continues to plan massive capex (Meta Compute, data centers, nuclear prepayments). Some investors fear the pace/scale of spending and execution risk, and high-profile critics (e.g., Michael Burry commentary) amplify downside pressure. Benzinga: Michael Burry critique
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory noise — Brazil’s antitrust suspension of a WhatsApp policy and Australia account‑removal/teen‑ban issues add jurisdictional regulatory risk that could create headline volatility. TechCrunch: Brazil WhatsApp order

Meta Platforms 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.