3,166 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Acquired by Sun Financial Inc

Sun Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,166 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Sun Financial Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 465 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho decreased their price target on 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 Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,231 shares of company stock worth $108,239,954. Company 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 is expanding WhatsApp’s privacy tools with a new “incognito” mode for AI chats, which could help ease user concerns and support adoption of its AI features. Reuters article on WhatsApp incognito mode
• Positive Sentiment: The company also introduced more private messaging and sharing products, including an Instagram feature and additional AI privacy controls, which may help strengthen engagement and user trust over time. CNET article on Instagram Instants
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is reportedly preparing to monetize WhatsApp more aggressively through a premium subscription model, which could eventually add high-margin recurring revenue, but the financial impact is still speculative. Seeking Alpha article on WhatsApp Plus
• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County filed a lawsuit accusing Meta of profiting from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, adding to concerns that the company may face restitution, damages, and stricter oversight of its ad systems. Business Wire article on Santa Clara County complaint
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is challenging New Mexico’s proposed $3.7 billion remedy in the teen mental health trial, underscoring the scale of potential liabilities from social media-related lawsuits. Reuters article on New Mexico trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports said Meta lost a court fight in Italy over paying publishers for news snippets, reinforcing that international regulation could create additional costs and legal pressure. Reuters article on Italian publishers ruling

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $616.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $623.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $641.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current year.

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.