GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Sells 7,453 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,453 shares and leaving it with 43,438 shares worth about $28.7 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results came in ahead of expectations, with EPS of $10.44 versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 29.65 per share for the current fiscal year.
• Despite strong earnings and continued analyst support, sentiment is mixed because of rising AI capital spending, regulatory/legal pressure, and some recent institutional and insider selling. Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.31.

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,438 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,453 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.7% of GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 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 raised 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 buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $614.23 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $622.18 and its 200 day moving average is $639.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.33, 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square continues to hold Meta alongside other megacap AI leaders, reinforcing the view that META remains a core long-term AI and digital ads name. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google. Is Ackman's Hedge Fund Just a Mag 7 Play?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point out that Meta’s latest earnings beat was strong, with faster revenue growth and better-than-expected EPS, which supports the bull case despite recent volatility. Meta Platforms Stock Performance
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is getting attention as one of the most-watched stocks on Zacks, suggesting investors are closely focused on what comes next for AI spending, ad growth, and margins. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is still a key part of the AI trade, but commentary about an AI bubble and crowded megacap positioning is keeping sentiment cautious around the stock. UBS warns AI stocks are overheating as growth expectations collide with history
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO said 2026 capital expenditures are expected to keep rising, intensifying concerns that heavy AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and near-term profitability. Money Pit? Zuckerberg Just Exposed Why Hyperscaler AI Spending Keeps Going Up
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and regulatory pressure, including a New Mexico youth-safety trial, an Italian lawsuit over minors’ social media use, and a California suit tied to AI scam ads and advertising practices. Meta and Google fund US kids' groups, as critics warn of social media risk
• Negative Sentiment: Some fund managers trimmed META holdings, which may add to near-term caution even though other investors increased exposure. ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood Cuts Meta Platforms Stake Sharply

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted 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. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 price target (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% 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. Insiders sold 160,352 shares of company stock valued at $102,559,436 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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