Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Ethic Inc.'s 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holding to 157,634 shares valued at about $104.1 million. Meta now makes up roughly 1.6% of Ethic’s portfolio and ranks as its 8th-largest position.
• Meta continues to attract major institutional interest overall, with firms like Vanguard and State Street also adding shares. Institutional investors and hedge funds own about 79.91% of the company.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. However, the company is also facing scrutiny over aggressive AI spending and large layoffs, which have raised concerns about margins and capital costs.

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,634 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,184 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $104,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,998 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 158,971 shares of company stock worth $101,676,729 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $621.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $638.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm 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 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms 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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