Ebert Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ebert Capital Management initiated a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter, buying 1,697 shares valued at about $1.216 million. The position now makes up 1.2% of the firm’s holdings and is its 15th largest position.
• Meta’s recent business momentum remains solid, with commentary pointing to strong ad impressions, higher ad prices, and revenue growth that could support its heavy AI-related spending. The company also launched new parental supervision tools and expanded an AI-powered ad partnership for Threads.
• Despite the positive operating trends, Meta is facing investor concerns over large AI investments and layoffs, including cuts affecting about 8,000 employees. Analysts remain mostly constructive overall, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and target price around $840.31.

Ebert Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,697 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,216,000. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Ebert Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of META 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 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $621.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $638.95.

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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 158,971 shares of company stock valued at $101,676,729 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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