Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management increased its Meta Platforms stake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 1,944 shares to bring its total to 56,992 shares valued at about $37.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with large holders like Vanguard and State Street also adding shares; overall, institutions own 79.91% of Meta stock.
• Meta’s latest quarter beat expectations, reporting $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.19.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,992 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.7% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. 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 acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $510,025.95. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,660 shares in the company, valued at $8,933,071. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold 151,173 shares of company stock worth $95,910,299 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $610.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $617.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.99.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS 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.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.