Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Sells 52,010 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 52,010 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.4% of Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,375 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 91,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,459 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 2,315 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alexis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $847,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock worth $107,642,717. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $609.63 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $645.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

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.