Nicholas Company Inc. Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nicholas Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 119,410 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,370 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.4% of Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $78,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Merrithew & Thorsten Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on META. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 171,517 shares of company stock valued at $109,138,067 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.