AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its Meta stake by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 185,960 shares to reach 1,126,420 shares valued at about $743.5 million. Meta now represents roughly 3.5% of the fund’s holdings and is its seventh-largest position.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Meta, with analysts maintaining a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $840.19. Recent target updates from firms like Wedbush, Canaccord Genuity, and Tigress Financial were mostly positive.
• Meta’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, with revenue up 33.1% year over year. However, the stock also faces ongoing attention from insider sales and legal risks, including the Texas attorney general’s lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,126,420 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 185,960 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.5% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $743,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (down from $880.00) 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 given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Key Meta Platforms News

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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $610.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $617.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.99. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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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