SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,576 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.9% of SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 44.4% in the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 3,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% in 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 period. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $659.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $627.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $650.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $517.50 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following 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 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. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 166,117 shares of company stock worth $106,367,778. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support: Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” and $850 price target and other firms (Deutsche Bank, Citizens) remain constructive, highlighting AI-driven ad upside and margin leverage. Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating, $850 PT
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank and others emphasize AI investments could strengthen Meta’s core advertising product and lift monetization, supporting bullish price targets. This Is the Impact of AI on Meta Platforms’ Core Advertising Business
• Positive Sentiment: Product and engagement catalysts — Threads added Live Chats and Meta Quest gained DirecTV streaming, which could help user engagement and new content monetization paths. Live Chats Are Now on Threads You Can Now Stream DirecTV on Your Meta Quest Headset
• Neutral Sentiment: Account and UX improvements: Meta is revamping its cross-app Meta Account system to streamline logins and device management — a product-level improvement with unclear near-term revenue impact. Meta Is Revamping Its Cross-App Management System
• Neutral Sentiment: Safety/parent tools: Meta added a feature letting parents see topics teens ask Meta AI about; reputationally positive but unlikely to move near-term revenue. Parents Can Now See What Their Kids Are Asking Meta AI About
• Negative Sentiment: Large workforce reduction: Meta will cut ~8,000 roles (10% of staff) and freeze hiring for ~6,000 open positions to “run more efficiently” and offset AI capex — the scale of the move signals heavy near-term restructuring and underscores how costly Meta’s AI buildout remains. Meta Prepares 8,000 Layoffs to Offset AI Infrastructure Investments
• Negative Sentiment: Employee-tracking controversy: Reports that Meta is logging employee keystrokes, clicks and mouse activity to train AI raise privacy/ethical concerns and potential regulatory scrutiny. Meta Is Tracking Employee Usage on Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and ESG pressures: New shareholder proposals, recent court rulings around teen addiction liability and a consumer suit over ad-related scams increase potential legal costs and reputational risk. Meta Verdict Poised to Shift Platform Liability Consumer Watchdog Group Files Suit
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Javier Olivan disclosed multi-hundred-thousand-dollar share sales under a 10b5-1 plan, a data point some investors watch as a mild negative signal. SEC Filing: Javier Olivan Share Sales

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $837.09.

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.