Cairn Investment Group Inc. Sells 2,988 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Cairn Investment Group sharply reduced its Meta stake in the fourth quarter, selling 2,988 shares and cutting its holdings by 76.4% to 925 shares worth about $611,000.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with Meta carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $840.31 after several firms raised targets in recent reports.
• Meta is seeing both upside and risk: recent product updates focus on privacy features for WhatsApp, Instagram, and AI chats, while legal and regulatory pressure continues to build from lawsuits over scam ads, teen mental health, and publisher compensation.

Cairn Investment Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 76.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 925 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,988 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Arete Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.57, for a total transaction of $559,831.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,143,118.21. The trade was a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,231 shares of company stock valued at $108,239,954. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding WhatsApp’s privacy tools with a new “incognito” mode for AI chats, which could help ease user concerns and support adoption of its AI features. Reuters article on WhatsApp incognito mode
• Positive Sentiment: The company also introduced more private messaging and sharing products, including an Instagram feature and additional AI privacy controls, which may help strengthen engagement and user trust over time. CNET article on Instagram Instants
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly preparing to monetize WhatsApp more aggressively through a premium subscription model, which could eventually add high-margin recurring revenue, but the financial impact is still speculative. Seeking Alpha article on WhatsApp Plus
• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County filed a lawsuit accusing Meta of profiting from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, adding to concerns that the company may face restitution, damages, and stricter oversight of its ad systems. Business Wire article on Santa Clara County complaint
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is challenging New Mexico’s proposed $3.7 billion remedy in the teen mental health trial, underscoring the scale of potential liabilities from social media-related lawsuits. Reuters article on New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports said Meta lost a court fight in Italy over paying publishers for news snippets, reinforcing that international regulation could create additional costs and legal pressure. Reuters article on Italian publishers ruling

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $616.63 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $623.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $641.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current year.

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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