Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its Meta Platforms stake by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, owning 706,302 shares worth about $466.2 million. Meta is now its 7th-largest holding and makes up 2.4% of the portfolio.
• Meta is undergoing a major AI-focused restructuring, including cutting about 8,000 jobs and moving roughly 7,000 workers into AI-related roles. The changes are aimed at funding its AI push but may pressure near-term profitability and execution.
• Despite the restructuring, Meta’s latest earnings were strong: it reported $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, both above expectations. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $840.19.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 706,302 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $466,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta began cutting about 8,000 jobs, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first restructuring. Investors may view the move as evidence that the company needs to offset rising AI investment costs, which could weigh on near-term profitability. Meta Begins Laying Off Thousands of Employees as It Transforms Around AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say Meta tied the layoffs to funding its AI push, reinforcing worries that aggressive investment in AI could pressure earnings and cash flow before the benefits show up. Zuckerberg says 'success isn't a given' in memo to employees amid Meta layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s decision to reassign about 7,000 workers into AI-related roles while cutting headcount highlights the scale of the internal overhaul and may keep morale and execution risks in focus. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, sold shares in a pre-arranged transaction, which can add to short-term caution even though the sale was reportedly for tax withholding purposes. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META CFO Susan Li Sells 2,127 Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also offered rival AI chatbots limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe, a move that could support platform usage but does not yet have a clear near-term financial impact. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive on Meta’s long-term earnings power, with Wells Fargo only slightly trimming its price target while keeping an Overweight rating. Wells Fargo Trims Meta Platforms Price Target to $765: Why the AI Infrastructure Bet Still Has Believers

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the 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 directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the 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 directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 171,517 shares of company stock valued at $109,138,067 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

META stock opened at $605.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $619.50 and a 200-day moving average of $637.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company 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%.Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

About Meta Platforms

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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