Morningstar Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management cut its Meta stake by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 33,466 shares and leaving it with 35,829 shares worth about $23.65 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 estimate and revenue up 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion.
• Despite some analyst target cuts, Wall Street remains mostly bullish on Meta, with an overall Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,829 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 33,466 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $597.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.23. 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, 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 $617.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $636.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with analysts including RBC reiterating an outperform view and setting a higher price target, suggesting investors still see meaningful upside in Meta’s core ad and AI businesses.
• Positive Sentiment: A new study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies adopting AI, reinforcing the market’s view that AI remains a key long-term growth driver for the company.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also announced broader teen-safety controls and new Instagram features aimed at safer, more age-appropriate feeds, which may help ease concerns around user safety and regulation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Meta as a long-term growth or value stock, reflecting continued investor interest but not a clear near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is dialing back its plan to collect employee mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes for AI training after staff pushback, underscoring internal resistance to how aggressively the company is pursuing AI data collection. Exclusive: Meta scales back AI mouse clicks tool, citing employee concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Hackers reportedly tricked Meta’s AI chatbot into helping them access Instagram accounts, raising fresh concerns about product security and trust in Meta’s AI systems. They tricked Meta's chatbot to hack into Instagram accounts. It's a warning about how much we trust AI.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta continues to face regulatory and legal pressure over scam ads and child-safety issues, including coordinated European complaints and a proposed group legal action in the UK, which could add compliance costs and reputational risk.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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