HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 77.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,364,123 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 594,202 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of HighTower Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $900,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 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. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in 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. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $635.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $617.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $636.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm 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 was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Meta Platforms 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.