Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

First Eagle Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,149,947 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 182,005 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.7% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,079,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 897 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Tsai Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Tsai Capital Corp now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,009,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 30,396 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of META opened at $605.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $619.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $637.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 171,517 shares of company stock worth $109,138,067. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

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.