WD Rutherford LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• WD Rutherford LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 35.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,248 shares to reach 8,582 shares valued at about $5.67 million. Meta now ranks as its 11th-largest holding and makes up roughly 2.4% of the portfolio.
• Meta is expanding monetization beyond advertising with new subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and AI products. The company is also testing paid AI tiers, which could create a new recurring revenue stream.
• Despite strong business momentum, Meta faces legal and regulatory pressure, including a Supreme Court decision allowing a Vermont social-media addiction case to proceed and a new lawsuit over scam ads. Even so, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $840.19.

WD Rutherford LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,582 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,248 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.4% of WD Rutherford LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. WD Rutherford LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and AI users, opening a new recurring-revenue stream and giving investors a clearer path beyond ads. Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also testing paid AI subscription tiers, signaling another monetization lever for its fast-growing AI products. Meta to start testing AI subscription services, with cheapest plan at $7.99 a month
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a Meta cloud computing business is “definitely on the table” if the company ends up with excess data-center capacity, hinting at a possible long-term expansion into a large enterprise market. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Positive Sentiment: Reports said Meta’s ad business remains strong, with AI features improving engagement and pricing power, reinforcing the company’s core earnings engine. META Rides on Solid Momentum in Ad Business: A Sign of More Upside?
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying suggests traders are positioning for more upside, but it does not by itself change fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s appeal in a Vermont social-media addiction case, allowing a legal challenge over teen safety and app design to proceed. US Supreme Court won't hear Meta's challenge to Vermont social media addiction lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces fresh scrutiny from a Santa Clara County lawsuit alleging it profited from scam ads, adding to regulatory and legal overhangs. Santa Clara Lawsuit Tests Meta’s AI Ad Model And Governance Balance

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $510,025.95. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,933,071. This trade represents 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 at 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on META shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.7%

META opened at $635.26 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $617.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $636.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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