Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. Buys Shares of 4,681 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. opened a new position in Meta Platforms, buying 4,681 shares valued at about $3.09 million. Meta now makes up roughly 2.6% of the firm’s holdings.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company continues to show strong profitability, with a 36.93% return on equity and a 32.84% net margin.
• Recent developments around Meta include a new Forum app launch, a shift in resources toward AI, and ongoing legal scrutiny such as the Texas lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp. Analysts remain generally positive, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of about $840.19.

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,681 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,090,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.6% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Rayburn West Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,541,000. Ndwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Ndwm LLC now owns 585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundry Financial Group Inc. now owns 520 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,008 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 4,122 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $610.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $617.68 and a 200 day moving average of $637.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a standalone “Forum” app for Facebook Groups, signaling a new product push that could deepen user engagement and add pressure to competitors like Reddit. Meta quietly launches a new Reddit-like app called Forum
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is cutting jobs and shifting resources toward AI, which investors may view as an efficiency move that supports long-term profit margins and keeps the company focused on its biggest growth area. Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Boosts AI Team: What This Means for Employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also settled a school-district lawsuit over alleged social media addiction harms, removing one legal overhang, though the broader regulatory and litigation risk around its platforms remains. Texas sues Meta, WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Meta’s dual-class control structure, insider share sales, and broader AI spending debate are adding to the narrative, but they are less likely to drive the stock on their own than the new app launch and workforce reshaping.
• Negative Sentiment: The Texas attorney general’s lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp over encryption and privacy claims adds another legal risk for investors to monitor. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams
• Negative Sentiment: Competition concerns are also in focus after Meta’s Forum app appeared to pressure Reddit shares, reinforcing worries that Meta’s scale lets it copy or crowd out rival social platforms.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% 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. Insiders have sold 152,728 shares of company stock valued at $96,925,217 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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