WP Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• WP Advisors LLC increased its Meta stake by 14.3% in Q4 to 41,230 shares (worth about $27.22 million), making Meta roughly 6.8% of the fund's portfolio and its fourth‑largest holding.
• Meta beat Q1 estimates, reporting EPS of $10.44 vs. $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion (up 33.1% year‑over‑year).
• Insiders have sold shares recently (166,638 shares worth ~$106.7 million in the last 90 days, including director and COO transactions under 10b5‑1 plans), while Reality Labs posted a ~$4B Q1 loss and management raised 2026 capex guidance, creating near‑term margin and cash‑flow concerns.

WP Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,230 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 5,167 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 6.8% of WP Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. WP Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after purchasing an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after purchasing an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,619,341 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,001,772,000 after purchasing an additional 481,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $670.84, for a total value of $421,958.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,232.48. This trade represents a 20.96% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 166,638 shares of company stock worth $106,697,681 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI), boosting its humanoid-robot/AI roadmap and signaling longer‑term product diversification beyond ads. Meta Acquires ARI to Fuel Humanoid Robot Push
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokers reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings (Guggenheim, Piper Sandler, RBC), citing strong ad revenue and AI-driven growth potential that supports medium‑term earnings upside. Analysts Reaffirm Buy Rating on Meta (META), Cite Growth and AI Potential
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: Manning & Napier increased its stake, a sign some money managers view current levels as attractive. Manning & Napier Advisors Boosts Meta Platforms Stake 81K
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst price‑target moves: a number of firms trimmed targets (Stifel, UBS, Sanford C. Bernstein) but many kept Buy ratings — showing confidence in fundamentals but some caution on valuation and near‑term headwinds. Stifel Cuts META Price Target, Keeps Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk escalated as New Mexico’s youth‑harm trial begins seeking court orders to force product changes across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — a verdict or injunctive relief could impose operational constraints and remediation costs. New Mexico seeks changes to Meta platforms in youth harm trial
• Negative Sentiment: Reality Labs continues to post large losses (reported ~$4B Q1) and management raised 2026 capex guidance to accelerate AI infrastructure — investors worry lower near‑term returns and heavy AI spend will pressure margins and free cash flow. Meta’s Reality Labs reports $4B Q1 loss amid AI strategy shift
• Negative Sentiment: Negative media and market reaction: commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) and coverage about CEO testimony logistics add to sentiment pressure, amplifying short‑term downside even as fundamentals are debated. Jim Cramer on Meta: “It’s Being Clubbed Like a Baby Seal”

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $608.74 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $629.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $647.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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 business 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.67.

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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