First Eagle Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, though Meta remained its third-largest holding at about 3.7% of the portfolio.
• Meta reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $10.44 EPS versus the $6.67 consensus estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, ahead of expectations.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on Meta, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $840.19, even as some recent targets were trimmed slightly.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,149,947 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 182,005 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.7% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Meta Platforms worth $2,079,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after purchasing an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after purchasing an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $605.06 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $619.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $637.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 171,517 shares of company stock valued at $109,138,067 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 target price (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta began cutting about 8,000 jobs, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first restructuring. Investors may view the move as evidence that the company needs to offset rising AI investment costs, which could weigh on near-term profitability. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say Meta tied the layoffs to funding its AI push, reinforcing worries that aggressive investment in AI could pressure earnings and cash flow before the benefits show up. Zuckerberg says 'success isn't a given' in memo to employees amid Meta layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s decision to reassign about 7,000 workers into AI-related roles while cutting headcount highlights the scale of the internal overhaul and may keep morale and execution risks in focus. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, sold shares in a pre-arranged transaction, which can add to short-term caution even though the sale was reportedly for tax withholding purposes. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META CFO Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also offered rival AI chatbots limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe, a move that could support platform usage but does not yet have a clear near-term financial impact. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive on Meta’s long-term earnings power, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its price target while keeping an Overweight rating. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765: Why the AI Infrastructure Bet Still Has Believers

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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