Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing

Key Points

• ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing cut its Meta Platforms stake by 48.9% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 1,487 shares valued at about $981,000.
• Meta insiders sold shares recently, including CFO Susan J. Li and CTO Andrew Bosworth, with the insider sales tied to pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and tax withholding for equity awards.
• Wall Street remains generally bullish on Meta, with analysts issuing a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.19, even as investors continue to watch the company’s heavy AI spending and restructuring efforts.

ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 48.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,487 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,421 shares during the quarter. ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,772 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $41,435,000 after buying an additional 31,304 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 61,057 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,303,000 after buying an additional 10,307 shares in the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 12,012 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,929,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 24,533 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $16,194,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rinkey Investments raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. Rinkey Investments now owns 1,208 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish takes argue Meta is undervalued relative to its earnings power, with strong profitability, buybacks, and AI investments that could support long-term growth if the company’s spending translates into revenue. Meta Platforms: A Call Option On The AI Race
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI and product rollout efforts remain active, including expanded AI features in WhatsApp and renewed focus on smart glasses, which reinforce its long-term AI and AR strategy. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Expands AI Private Chats and Renewable Energy Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts still see upside, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its target while maintaining an Overweight rating, suggesting Wall Street remains constructive on Meta’s AI infrastructure bet. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta settled the first U.S. school-district lawsuit tied to social media addiction, reducing legal overhang for now, though broader litigation risk remains unresolved. Meta settles first US case over school costs tied to youth mental health
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he does not expect more companywide layoffs this year, which may calm employees but is unlikely to materially change the stock’s near-term outlook. Exclusive: Meta CEO tells employees he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also continues to see insider sales and debate around layoffs, but those moves were largely tied to pre-arranged tax-withholding plans and are less likely to be a major market signal. Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares of Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s biggest drag remains its aggressive AI spending, with 2026 capex guidance still extremely high and investors questioning whether layoffs will generate enough savings to offset that bill. Meta Platforms 10% Layoff Raises a Bigger Question About AI Spending
• Negative Sentiment: The company’s 10% workforce reduction and related restructuring have raised concerns about morale, execution risk, and whether management is cutting costs fast enough to support AI investments. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing fresh regulatory and legal scrutiny, including EU complaints over handling financial scams and ongoing criticism tied to youth mental-health lawsuits. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $607.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $618.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $637.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current 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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