JLB & Associates Inc. Acquires 4,010 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

JLB & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 59.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,783 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 160,352 shares of company stock worth $102,559,436 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.31.

Key Headlines 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

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $614.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $622.18 and a 200-day moving average of $639.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Company 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.