Bailard Inc. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bailard Inc. cut its Meta Platforms stake by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,266 shares and leaving it with 61,095 shares valued at about $40.3 million.
• Despite the sale, institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 79.91% of Meta’s stock. Several large investors, including Vanguard and State Street, increased their positions.
• Meta’s latest results were strong, with Q1 earnings of $10.44 per share topping estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price around $840.19.

Bailard Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,095 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 21,266 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.9% of Bailard Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bailard Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $40,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish takes argue Meta is undervalued relative to its earnings power, with strong profitability, buybacks, and AI investments that could support long-term growth if the company’s spending translates into revenue. Meta Platforms: A Call Option On The AI Race
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI and product rollout efforts remain active, including expanded AI features in WhatsApp and renewed focus on smart glasses, which reinforce its long-term AI and AR strategy. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Expands AI Private Chats and Renewable Energy Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still see upside, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its target while maintaining an Overweight rating, suggesting Wall Street remains constructive on Meta’s AI infrastructure bet. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta settled the first U.S. school-district lawsuit tied to social media addiction, reducing legal overhang for now, though broader litigation risk remains unresolved. Meta settles first US case over school costs tied to youth mental health
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he does not expect more companywide layoffs this year, which may calm employees but is unlikely to materially change the stock’s near-term outlook. Exclusive: Meta CEO tells employees he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also continues to see insider sales and debate around layoffs, but those moves were largely tied to pre-arranged tax-withholding plans and are less likely to be a major market signal. Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s biggest drag remains its aggressive AI spending, with 2026 capex guidance still extremely high and investors questioning whether layoffs will generate enough savings to offset that bill. Meta Platforms 10% Layoff Raises a Bigger Question About AI Spending
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s 10% workforce reduction and related restructuring have raised concerns about morale, execution risk, and whether management is cutting costs fast enough to support AI investments. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing fresh regulatory and legal scrutiny, including EU complaints over handling financial scams and ongoing criticism tied to youth mental-health lawsuits. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $510,025.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,933,071. This trade 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 a total of 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

META stock opened at $607.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. 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's fifty day moving average is $618.57 and its 200 day moving average is $637.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

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.

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.