Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,722 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,701 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.6% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,587,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,115 shares of company stock worth $24,741,055. 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: Threads’ mobile daily users have reportedly passed X, indicating stronger engagement that could help ad monetization and user-growth narrative. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Instagram is shifting most ad inventory into Reels (over half of Instagram ads in 2025), supporting the company’s short‑form video monetization strategy. Read More.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.6%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $604.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $640.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $698.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The company’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Benchmark lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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 issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $821.07.

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.