Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management cut its Meta Platforms stake by 39.2% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 21,419 shares worth about $14.1 million.
• Insiders have also been selling, including COO Javier Olivan and CFO Susan J. Li, with total insider sales of 152,728 shares worth nearly $96.9 million over the last quarter.
• Despite the selling, Meta’s recent results were strong: the company beat earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, and analysts still maintain a Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $840.19.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 39.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,419 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 13,810 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after buying 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 purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm'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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $610.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $617.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $637.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Key Stories 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.

About Meta Platforms

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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