Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 3,678 shares to bring its total to 52,569 shares worth about $34.7 million.
• Meta continues to see broad institutional ownership, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 79.91% of the company’s stock.
• The article highlights both AI-driven restructuring and insider selling at Meta, including major layoffs tied to funding its AI push and recent share sales by CFO Susan J. Li and COO Javier Olivan.

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,569 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,678 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.8% of Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta began cutting about 8,000 jobs, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first restructuring. Investors may view the move as evidence that the company needs to offset rising AI investment costs, which could weigh on near-term profitability. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say Meta tied the layoffs to funding its AI push, reinforcing worries that aggressive investment in AI could pressure earnings and cash flow before the benefits show up. Zuckerberg says 'success isn't a given' in memo to employees amid Meta layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s decision to reassign about 7,000 workers into AI-related roles while cutting headcount highlights the scale of the internal overhaul and may keep morale and execution risks in focus. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, sold shares in a pre-arranged transaction, which can add to short-term caution even though the sale was reportedly for tax withholding purposes. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META CFO Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also offered rival AI chatbots limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe, a move that could support platform usage but does not yet have a clear near-term financial impact. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive on Meta’s long-term earnings power, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its price target while keeping an Overweight rating. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765: Why the AI Infrastructure Bet Still Has Believers

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $510,025.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,933,071. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 sold 171,517 shares of company stock valued at $109,138,067. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $605.06 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $619.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $637.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 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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