Rep. Josh Gottheimer Sells Off Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) recently sold shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. NASDAQ: META. In a filing disclosed on May 14th, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in Meta Platforms stock on April 9th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "MORGAN STANLEY - SELECT UMA ACCOUNT # 1" account.

Representative Josh Gottheimer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of RTX NYSE: RTX on 4/23/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Cheniere Energy NYSE: LNG on 4/22/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Techtronic Industries OTCMKTS: TTNDY on 4/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Tri Pointe Homes NYSE: TPH on 4/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk NYSE: TLK on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. NYSE: KKR on 4/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of D.R. Horton NYSE: DHI on 4/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Home Depot NYSE: HD on 4/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Hillman Solutions NASDAQ: HLMN on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of AbbVie NYSE: ABBV on 4/17/2025.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded down $4.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $636.40. 3,589,419 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,352,691. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $571.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $607.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total transaction of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,837 shares of company stock valued at $64,758,661 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Institutional Trading of Meta Platforms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the period. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $459,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Representative Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing New Jersey's 5th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2017. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Gottheimer (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey's 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election. Gottheimer is also running for election for Governor of New Jersey. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 10, 2025. Gottheimer attended the University of Pennsylvania for his undergraduate degree. He became a Thouron Fellow at Oxford and attended Harvard Law School. Gottheimer worked as a speech writer under former President Bill Clinton (D), assisting with two State of the Union addresses, among other projects. Before running for Congress, he worked for Microsoft as a general manager for corporate strategy.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.