Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Ballentine Partners LLC

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 949 shares and ending with 58,690 shares valued at about $38.7 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $10.44 versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. Despite this, the stock was trading down about 0.5% at $611.21.
• Recent headlines point to a mixed outlook: Meta is expanding AI-driven advertising and product tools, but it is also facing concern over large-scale layoffs and heavy AI spending that could pressure margins.

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,690 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 949 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Ballentine Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $38,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $621.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $638.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 158,971 shares of company stock worth $101,676,729. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price target (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Company 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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