Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 219,744 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management cut its Meta Platforms stake by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 219,744 shares and leaving it with 436,720 shares valued at about $288.3 million.
• Meta insiders also sold shares recently, including CTO Andrew Bosworth and COO Javier Olivan; insiders sold 151,173 shares worth about $95.9 million in the last quarter overall.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Meta, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $840.19, even as analysts continue to tweak targets and ratings.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 436,720 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 219,744 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $288,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 151,173 shares of company stock valued at $95,910,299 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective 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 issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a standalone “Forum” app for Facebook Groups, signaling a new product push that could deepen user engagement and add pressure to competitors like Reddit. Meta quietly launches a new Reddit-like app called Forum
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is cutting jobs and shifting resources toward AI, which investors may view as an efficiency move that supports long-term profit margins and keeps the company focused on its biggest growth area. Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Boosts AI Team: What This Means for Employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also settled a school-district lawsuit over alleged social media addiction harms, removing one legal overhang, though the broader regulatory and litigation risk around its platforms remains. Texas sues Meta, WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Meta’s dual-class control structure, insider share sales, and broader AI spending debate are adding to the narrative, but they are less likely to drive the stock on their own than the new app launch and workforce reshaping.
• Negative Sentiment: The Texas attorney general’s lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp over encryption and privacy claims adds another legal risk for investors to monitor. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams
• Negative Sentiment: Competition concerns are also in focus after Meta’s Forum app appeared to pressure Reddit shares, reinforcing worries that Meta’s scale lets it copy or crowd out rival social platforms.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $610.26 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $617.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $636.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 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 firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS 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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