Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Acquires 1,337 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,419 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,373,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a standalone “Forum” app for Facebook Groups, signaling a new product push that could deepen user engagement and add pressure to competitors like Reddit. Meta quietly launches a new Reddit-like app called Forum
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is cutting jobs and shifting resources toward AI, which investors may view as an efficiency move that supports long-term profit margins and keeps the company focused on its biggest growth area. Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Boosts AI Team: What This Means for Employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also settled a school-district lawsuit over alleged social media addiction harms, removing one legal overhang, though the broader regulatory and litigation risk around its platforms remains. Texas sues Meta, WhatsApp over encryption privacy claims
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Meta’s dual-class control structure, insider share sales, and broader AI spending debate are adding to the narrative, but they are less likely to drive the stock on their own than the new app launch and workforce reshaping.
• Negative Sentiment: The Texas attorney general’s lawsuit against Meta and WhatsApp over encryption and privacy claims adds another legal risk for investors to monitor. Google, Meta, TikTok face EU consumer complaints about handling of financial scams
• Negative Sentiment: Competition concerns are also in focus after Meta’s Forum app appeared to pressure Reddit shares, reinforcing worries that Meta’s scale lets it copy or crowd out rival social platforms.

Insider Activity 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 value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $610.26 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $617.68 and its 200-day moving average is $637.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 1.07 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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.