Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,986 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $132,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after purchasing an additional 20,912 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 84,687 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $62,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $644.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $656.44 and a 200-day moving average of $690.96. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. 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 8.94%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major NVIDIA multiyear deal — Meta signed a multigenerational agreement to buy millions of NVIDIA GPUs and adopt NVIDIA CPUs, networking and rack designs, strengthening its AI roadmap and securing long‑term supply for data‑center buildout. This deal underpins the rally as it reduces Meta’s hardware risk and accelerates product timelines. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Big investors leaning into the AI thesis — Reports (including 13F mentions) show some prominent funds increasing Meta exposure on the AI infrastructure/advertising opportunity, adding conviction to the upside. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Product roadmap shifts — Meta is refocusing Horizon Worlds toward mobile (less VR) and will shut down Messenger’s standalone website; these are strategic pivots that change execution risk but have limited immediate revenue impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior executives — Multiple SEC filings show sizable recent sales by CFO Susan Li and COO Javier Olivan (and a director sale), which can create near‑term supply and market signaling concerns. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Staff equity cut to fund AI — Financial Times/Reuters report Meta trimmed annual equity awards by ~5% for most staff to reallocate dollars to AI buildout, highlighting cost tradeoffs and potential morale/retention implications. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Huge 2026 CapEx and margin risk — Coverage notes Meta’s elevated 2026 capex plan (reported guidance in the $115–$135B range) to build AI infrastructure; that spending fuels growth potential but increases short‑term margin and execution risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory overhang — CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in a landmark youth‑addiction trial that could influence future regulation, moderation costs, or advertising dynamics if outcomes impose new constraints. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.29.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.14, for a total transaction of $323,928.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,506,247.42. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $639.77, for a total transaction of $1,574,473.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,108 shares in the company, valued at $7,746,335.16. This represents a 16.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,738 shares of company stock worth $13,362,921. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.