Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings cut its Meta Platforms stake by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,229 shares and leaving it with 124,911 shares worth about $82.5 million.
• Insiders also sold shares: COO Javier Olivan and Director Robert M. Kimmitt both reduced their holdings, and Meta insiders sold 158,971 shares valued at about $101.7 million over the last 90 days.
• Meta’s fundamentals remain strong, as the company recently beat earnings expectations with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while analysts still maintain a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $840.31.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,911 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,229 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $82,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 157,634 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $104,053,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 725 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 66.1% during the 4th quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 7,152 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,721,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.57, for a total value of $559,831.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,143,118.21. This represents a 11.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 158,971 shares of company stock valued at $101,676,729 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $611.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $621.20 and a 200-day moving average of $638.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four 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, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.31.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.