SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,609 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,079 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $22,603,485. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $549.90 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $593.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $615.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

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.