Income Insurance Ltd Invests $4.35 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Income Insurance Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,592 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,351,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Income Insurance Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $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 worth $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 142,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 558,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $602.61 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $620.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $637.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta began laying off about 8,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a broader AI-first transformation. The move highlights rising restructuring costs and suggests more cuts could follow later this year. Meta Begins Laying Off 8,000 Employees Amid A.I. Transformation
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta is cutting jobs while ramping up AI investment have kept attention on margin pressure and the scale of the company’s AI spending bill, which some investors view as a near-term drag on earnings. Meta Moves 7,000 Workers Into AI Roles Ahead of Job Cuts
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta offered rival AI chatbot makers limited free access to WhatsApp in Europe before charging once usage limits are reached. The move could support platform engagement and developer adoption, but the financial impact is still unclear. Exclusive: Meta offers AI rival chatbots limited free WhatsApp access, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also drew attention for new AI-related product and safety initiatives, including an incognito chat feature for WhatsApp’s AI assistant and new parental supervision tools, but these are not likely to move the stock in the near term. Meta Platforms (META) Launching Incognito Chat for WhatsApp AI Assistant

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $109,138,067 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research 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 MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.31.

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.