Freemont Management S.A. Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Freemont Management S.A. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 197.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of Freemont Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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 Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 152,728 shares of company stock worth $96,925,217. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $610.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $617.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $637.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.19.

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.