Left Brain Wealth Management LLC Has $14.45 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Left Brain Wealth Management trimmed its Meta Platforms stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, but Meta still remained its 3rd-largest holding and about 5% of the portfolio, worth roughly $14.45 million.
• Meta reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $10.44 and revenue of $56.31 billion, both ahead of expectations, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains generally positive on Meta, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $840.19, even as the stock faces ongoing legal risks and competition concerns tied to new product moves like the Forum app.

Left Brain Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,895 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,770 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 5.0% of Left Brain Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $610.26 on Monday. 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 $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $617.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a standalone “Forum” app for Facebook Groups, signaling a new product push that could deepen user engagement and add pressure to competitors like Reddit. Meta quietly launches a new Reddit-like app called Forum
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is cutting jobs and shifting resources toward AI, which investors may view as an efficiency move that supports long-term profit margins and keeps the company focused on its biggest growth area. Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Boosts AI Team: What This Means for Employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also settled a school-district lawsuit over alleged social media addiction harms, removing one legal overhang, though the broader regulatory and litigation risk around its platforms remains. Texas sues Meta, WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Meta’s dual-class control structure, insider share sales, and broader AI spending debate are adding to the narrative, but they are less likely to drive the stock on their own than the new app launch and workforce reshaping.
• Negative Sentiment: The Texas attorney general’s lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp over encryption and privacy claims adds another legal risk for investors to monitor. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams
• Negative Sentiment: Competition concerns are also in focus after Meta’s Forum app appeared to pressure Reddit shares, reinforcing worries that Meta’s scale lets it copy or crowd out rival social platforms.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,173 shares of company stock worth $95,910,299. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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