Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,534 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Soltis Investment Advisors cut its Meta Platforms stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,534 shares and leaving it with 24,469 shares worth about $16.15 million.
• Meta continues to attract major institutional support, with firms like Vanguard and State Street increasing positions and 79.91% of the stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• The company is facing a mixed backdrop of strong fundamentals and ongoing scrutiny: its latest quarter beat earnings and revenue expectations, but it also faces legal and regulatory concerns tied to social media addiction claims, AI ads, and content moderation.

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,469 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,534 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing Meta’s massive AI spending more favorably as analysts and market commentators argue the AI boom could last longer than expected, potentially strengthening the company’s competitive position. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent pieces continue to frame Meta as a top long-term growth stock and a stock drawing increased investor attention, which can help reinforce bullish sentiment around the name. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is making a major workforce reduction in Washington state as part of a broader AI-driven restructuring, which may improve efficiency over time but also signals a significant internal reset. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also getting additional investor and public scrutiny around AI, jobs, and capital allocation, with commentary suggesting the market is still debating whether Meta’s heavy AI investment will pay off. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JLens is urging shareholders to back a proposal demanding more transparency on content moderation, highlighting ongoing governance and brand-safety concerns ahead of the annual meeting. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s challenge to Vermont’s social media addiction lawsuit, keeping legal exposure alive in a case centered on alleged harms to young users. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces a new lawsuit from Santa Clara County over allegedly scam-related AI ads, adding another regulatory and reputational overhang tied to ad practices and user safety. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $612.34 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $617.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $636.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research decreased 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. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $510,025.95. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,933,071. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955. 13.53% of the stock is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.