Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter, purchasing 4,584 shares valued at about $3.0 million.
• Institutional interest in Meta remains high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 79.91% of the stock, though insider selling has been notable over the last 90 days.
• Meta’s latest earnings were strong, with EPS of $10.44 topping estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion, even as analysts remain mixed with an average rating of Moderate Buy.

Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,584 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,026,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.57, for a total value of $559,831.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,143,118.21. This trade represents a 11.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 158,971 shares of company stock valued at $101,676,729 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.31.

Key Meta Platforms News

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 Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of META stock opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $621.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $638.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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