Sapient Capital LLC Has $114.58 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,586 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.6% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $114,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,851,000. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,437,000. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 8,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,667,000 after buying an additional 3,317 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 4,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 546.2% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 95,471 shares of company stock valued at $60,616,955 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing Meta’s massive AI spending more favorably as analysts and market commentators argue the AI boom could last longer than expected, potentially strengthening the company’s competitive position. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent pieces continue to frame Meta as a top long-term growth stock and a stock drawing increased investor attention, which can help reinforce bullish sentiment around the name. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is making a major workforce reduction in Washington state as part of a broader AI-driven restructuring, which may improve efficiency over time but also signals a significant internal reset. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also getting additional investor and public scrutiny around AI, jobs, and capital allocation, with commentary suggesting the market is still debating whether Meta’s heavy AI investment will pay off. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: JLens is urging shareholders to back a proposal demanding more transparency on content moderation, highlighting ongoing governance and brand-safety concerns ahead of the annual meeting. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Meta’s challenge to Vermont’s social media addiction lawsuit, keeping legal exposure alive in a case centered on alleged harms to young users. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces a new lawsuit from Santa Clara County over allegedly scam-related AI ads, adding another regulatory and reputational overhang tied to ad practices and user safety. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.34 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $617.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $636.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current 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 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

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.