Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. sharply increased its Meta stake by 679.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 18,577 shares valued at about $12.26 million.
• Institutional ownership of Meta remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 79.91% of the stock, though recent filings show mixed moves from other investors.
• Meta reported strong quarterly earnings on April 29, beating estimates with $10.44 EPS and $56.31 billion in revenue, while analysts currently maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.31.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 679.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,577 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,194 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 465 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.57, for a total transaction of $559,831.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,143,118.21. This represents a 11.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 worth $101,676,729. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $621.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $638.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about 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 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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