Bessemer Group Inc. Has $1.57 Billion Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its Meta Platforms stake by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, but still held 2.38 million shares valued at about $1.57 billion. Meta remains its 7th-largest position and about 2.4% of its portfolio.
• Meta continues to attract major institutional ownership, with 79.91% of shares held by institutions overall. At the same time, several Meta insiders sold stock recently, including CFO Susan J. Li and CTO Andrew Bosworth.
• Recent developments around Meta include a new “Forum” app launch, workforce cuts tied to a bigger AI push, and ongoing legal scrutiny such as a Texas lawsuit over privacy and encryption claims. The company also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations.

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,381,838 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 162,943 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.4% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Meta Platforms worth $1,572,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired 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 period. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 151,173 shares of company stock worth $95,910,299. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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 Price Performance

META stock opened at $610.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $617.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $636.99.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price target (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

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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