Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) CFO Susan Li sold 2,127 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.43, for a total value of $1,315,400.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,346 shares in the company, valued at $9,490,426.78. This trade represents a 12.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4%
NASDAQ:META opened at $602.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $620.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $637.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms News Roundup
- Negative Sentiment: Meta began laying off about 8,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first transformation. The move highlights rising restructuring costs and suggests more cuts could follow later this year. Meta Begins Laying Off 8,000 Employees Amid A.I. Transformation
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is cutting jobs while ramping up AI investment have kept attention on margin pressure and the scale of the company’s AI spending bill, which some investors view as a near-term drag on earnings. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta offered rival AI chatbot makers limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe before charging once usage limits are reached. The move could support platform engagement and developer adoption, but the financial impact is still unclear. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta also drew attention for new AI-related product and safety initiatives, including an incognito chat feature for WhatsApp’s AI assistant and new parental supervision tools, but these are not likely to move the stock in the near term. Meta Platforms (META) Launching Incognito Chat for WhatsApp AI Assistant
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.31.
View Our Latest Stock Report on META
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.
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