Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 11,364 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 3.5% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $371,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.31.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square continues to hold Meta alongside other megacap AI leaders, reinforcing the view that META remains a core long-term AI and digital ads name. Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google. Is Ackman’s Hedge Fund Just a Mag 7 Play?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point out that Meta’s latest earnings beat was strong, with faster revenue growth and better-than-expected EPS, which supports the bull case despite recent volatility.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is getting attention as one of the most-watched stocks on Zacks, suggesting investors are closely focused on what comes next for AI spending, ad growth, and margins. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is still a key part of the AI trade, but commentary about an AI bubble and crowded megacap positioning is keeping sentiment cautious around the stock. UBS warns AI stocks are overheating as growth expectations collide with history
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s CFO said 2026 capital expenditures are expected to keep rising, intensifying concerns that heavy AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and near-term profitability. Money Pit? Zuckerberg Just Exposed Why Hyperscaler AI Spending Keeps Going Up
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing fresh legal and regulatory pressure, including a New Mexico youth-safety trial, an Italian lawsuit over minors’ social media use, and a California suit tied to AI scam ads and advertising practices. Meta and Google fund US kids’ groups, as critics warn of social media risk
• Negative Sentiment: Some fund managers trimmed META holdings, which may add to near-term caution even though other investors increased exposure. ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood Cuts Meta Platforms Stake Sharply

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was 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 directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 160,352 shares of company stock valued at $102,559,436. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7%

META opened at $614.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $622.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $640.72. 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 company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 EPS for the current year.

About Meta Platforms

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.