Stephens Inc. AR Buys 2,367 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,367 additional shares and bringing its total to 93,334 shares valued at about $61.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several large funds like Vanguard, State Street, and others also adding to their positions; overall, institutions own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta continues to benefit from strong AI and earnings sentiment, with analysts mostly bullish and the company recently posting Q1 EPS of $10.44 on revenue of $56.31 billion, both above expectations.

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,334 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.8% of Stephens Inc. AR's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,823,375,000 after purchasing an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,597,374,000 after purchasing an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,525,258,000 after purchasing an additional 558,792 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being viewed as an early leader in the AI trade, with recent commentary arguing the market may be underestimating how much AI could boost the company’s long-term earnings and valuation. The AI Trade Might Be Grossly Underestimated — and It Could Be Time To Rethink How We View the Mag 7
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI strategy is getting more attention, including reporting on CTO Andrew Bosworth’s push to use AI to reshape the workforce and improve efficiency, which could support margins over time. Meet Mark Zuckerberg's Right-Hand Man Who's Unleashing AI at Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms despite recent volatility, reinforcing confidence that the company’s ad business and AI investments can continue driving upside. Wall Street analysts predict Meta stock price for the next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI ecosystem through a $125 million UCLA semiconductor hub with partners including Broadcom and Synopsys, which could help strengthen long-term AI infrastructure and talent development. Meta, Broadcom And Others Launch $125 Million UCLA AI Chip Hub
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage about a potential AI “sidekick” or digital twin for Mark Zuckerberg adds to the company’s AI narrative, but it is more of a concept story than a confirmed business catalyst. Mark Zuckerberg May Already Have an AI Agent Sidekick — Could This Be the Future for CEOs?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s expanding use of WhatsApp in government services in Gujarat is a positive adoption signal, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Gujarat moves to WhatsApp governance, signs MoU with Meta Platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also dealing with scrutiny over the environmental impact of its data centers, after lawmakers raised concerns about water usage and called for an EPA probe, which could create regulatory and reputational pressure. AOC Raises Concerns Over Meta Data Center Water Impact

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $610.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current 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 business's 50 day moving average is $617.12 and its 200 day moving average is $636.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for 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%.Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

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.