Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Reduced by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,364 shares and leaving it with 562,312 shares worth about $371.2 million.
• Despite some trimming by investors, institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 79.91% of Meta’s stock; several large firms, including Vanguard and State Street, increased their positions.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, posting $10.44 EPS versus expectations of $6.67 and revenue of $56.31 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.31.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 562,312 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 11,364 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.5% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $371,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 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 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 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 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7%

META opened at $614.23 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG 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. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $622.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $640.72.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This represents a 74.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,352 shares of company stock worth $102,559,436. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

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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