Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Cascade Financial Partners LLC

Key Points

• Cascade Financial Partners LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 1,431 shares to bring its total to 8,843 shares worth about $5.84 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, both ahead of expectations and up sharply from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Meta, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.19, even as insiders recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,843 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $510,025.95. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,933,071. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold a total of 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $635.26 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 cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $617.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $636.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and AI users, opening a new recurring-revenue stream and giving investors a clearer path beyond ads. Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also testing paid AI subscription tiers, signaling another monetization lever for its fast-growing AI products. Meta to start testing AI subscription services, with cheapest plan at $7.99 a month
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a Meta cloud computing business is “definitely on the table” if the company ends up with excess data-center capacity, hinting at a possible long-term expansion into a large enterprise market. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Positive Sentiment: Reports said Meta’s ad business remains strong, with AI features improving engagement and pricing power, reinforcing the company’s core earnings engine. META Rides on Solid Momentum in Ad Business: A Sign of More Upside?
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying suggests traders are positioning for more upside, but it does not by itself change fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s appeal in a Vermont social-media addiction case, allowing a legal challenge over teen safety and app design to proceed. US Supreme Court won't hear Meta's challenge to Vermont social media addiction lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces fresh scrutiny from a Santa Clara County lawsuit alleging it profited from scam ads, adding to regulatory and legal overhangs. Santa Clara Lawsuit Tests Meta’s AI Ad Model And Governance Balance

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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