Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Trek Financial LLC

Key Points

• Trek Financial LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 58.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,884 shares and leaving it with 6,231 shares worth about $4.1 million.
• Meta is undergoing a major AI-driven restructuring, including about 8,000 job cuts and reassigning thousands of employees into AI roles. The moves are tied to funding its AI push and have raised concerns about near-term pressure on profitability and execution.
• Despite the cost-cutting and insider selling, Meta recently delivered strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with 33.1% year-over-year revenue growth. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price around $840.

Trek Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 58.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,231 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 8,884 shares during the quarter. Trek Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its position 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 worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 171,517 shares of company stock worth $109,138,067 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of META opened at $605.06 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $619.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $637.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE 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 quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

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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