Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 706,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.4% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $466,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in 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 buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents 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. Insiders have sold a total of 171,517 shares of company stock worth $109,138,067 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $605.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $619.50 and its 200-day moving average is $637.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

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.