Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 10,306 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. cut its Meta Platforms stake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,306 shares and leaving it with 103,912 shares worth about $68.6 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Meta, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.19 across analysts following the stock.
• Meta is facing a mix of growth and risk factors: it recently launched a new Forum app and is shifting resources toward AI, while also dealing with ongoing legal and competition concerns including a Texas lawsuit and broader privacy scrutiny.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,912 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,306 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $68,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

NASDAQ:META opened at $610.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $617.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $636.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following 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 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. Insiders sold 151,173 shares of company stock worth $95,910,299 in the last quarter. 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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