Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors cut its Meta Platforms stake by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,651 shares and ending with 52,855 shares valued at about $34.9 million.
• Meta reported strong Q1 results, with earnings of $10.44 per share beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion topping expectations, while revenue grew 33.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus target of $840.31, even as insiders sold shares in recent months.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,855 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,651 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares in the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,215,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.63 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $627.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $645.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% 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. Insiders sold 168,193 shares of company stock valued at $107,642,717 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

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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