Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 655,283 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 112,374 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.8% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $432,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $1,191,175,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,874,837 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,818,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,496 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $570.98 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $621.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $636.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on earnings power, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate for Meta and Truist pointing to a potential new subscription business that could add about $20 billion in revenue over time. Truist says Meta is building a new $20B business
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its AI infrastructure strategy by signing a data-center deal with Reliance in India, which could support long-term AI and cloud-scale ambitions. Meta agrees to Indian AI data center deal as hyperscaler bolsters its infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary argues the market may be overreacting to Meta’s AI capex, saying the spending should be judged by its impact on the core ad business rather than near-term monetization. Meta: The Market’s Perception On AI CapEx Seems Misplaced
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader AI data-center boom is facing scrutiny, with a report saying not all announced gigawatts will actually be built by 2030, adding uncertainty around hyperscaler infrastructure spending. Wall Street’s $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is drawing criticism over a subscription push and broader concerns that its AI strategy still lacks a clear direct revenue path, which may be pressuring sentiment on the stock. Meta’s Subscription Push Exposes Its Weak Hand in AI
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks remain elevated after the EU ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots, and a court denied Meta a new trial in the youth social-media addiction case. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp Google and Meta denied new trial in youth social media addiction case
• Negative Sentiment: Security concerns resurfaced after reports said an AI bug helped hackers breach tens of thousands of Instagram accounts, reinforcing worries about product trust and platform risk. Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on META shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Corporate insiders own 13.53% 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.