Channel Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Channel Wealth LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,402 additional shares to bring its total to 8,020 shares worth about $5.29 million.
• Other large institutional investors also boosted positions, including Vanguard, State Street, and Capital World Investors, while hedge funds and other institutions now own 79.91% of Meta’s shares.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, even as insiders have recently sold shares and some headlines raised concerns about heavy AI spending and layoffs.

Channel Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,020 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,402 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Channel Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Channel Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after buying an additional 142,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,565,949. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $559,831.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,143,118.21. This trade represents a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,971 shares of company stock valued at $101,676,729. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI and advertising strategy still appears to be generating real business results, with one analysis pointing to strong ad impressions, higher ad prices, and continued revenue growth that could help justify its heavy capital spending. Meta's Selloff Looks Like A Major Misread
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also announced new parental supervision tools across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Horizon, which could support trust and platform engagement over time. Meta's new tools allow parents to better supervise their kids' social media accounts. Will they work?
• Positive Sentiment: Zefr said it is deepening its partnership with Meta by adding AI-powered pre-bid controls to Threads, a sign that advertisers continue building on Meta’s newer products. Zefr Deepens Meta Partnership, Bringing AI-Powered Pre-Bid Controls to Threads Feed
• Neutral Sentiment: Several hedge-fund filings showed mixed investor sentiment, with some managers adding to Meta while others trimmed stakes, offering no clear single-direction signal for the shares. Tiger Global boosts Meta Platforms stake by 336,249 shares
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is starting layoffs affecting about 8,000 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, and expects the cuts to roll out in waves this week and possibly continue later in the year. Meta layoffs starting this week stress harsh AI reality inside Zuckerberg's company
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is reorganizing 7,000 employees toward AI and telling workers to stay remote during the layoff process reinforce fears that rising AI investment is creating pressure on headcount and margins. Meta Reassigns 7,000 Employees to Focus on A.I.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary around Meta’s “brutal” AI spending and large-scale job cuts is fueling concern that capital expenditures are getting too large before investors see enough return. Meta's 8,000 Job Cuts To Foot The $145B AI Bill

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $621.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $638.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

About Meta Platforms

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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