Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,830 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.0% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the third quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 9,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,311,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,940 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $29,331,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 9,055 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,650,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,268,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the third quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,370 shares in the company, valued at $53,857,980.20. This represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $666.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $656.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.22.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baird and other sell‑side analysts remain constructive (Baird reaffirmed “Outperform” with a high price target), supporting demand from long‑only funds positioning for AI monetization and ad recovery. Baird Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: press and analyst pieces on Meta’s new “Mango” AI model and a noise‑reduction update for its AI glasses suggest continued product differentiation that could lift engagement and ad monetization over time. Mango AI model AI glasses update
• Positive Sentiment: Sektor/flow support: sector‑rotation chatter favors Communication Services (heavy weightings to Meta and Alphabet), which has attracted institutional flows into XLC and indirectly supports META’s sentiment. Sector rotation
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter is mixed: social‑media and QuiverQuant summaries highlight both optimism about ad recovery and concern over heavy AI spend and timing of returns; institutional repositioning data is noisy. QuiverQuant summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed shows effectively zero days to cover (likely a data artifact); not meaningful for current positioning unless revised.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Italy’s antitrust watchdog ordered Meta to suspend WhatsApp terms that could exclude rival AI chatbots — a material policy/regulatory development that could limit Meta’s control over WhatsApp integrations and affect product/AI strategies in Europe. Reuters: Italy order TechCrunch
• Negative Sentiment: Product/policy risks: reports that Meta is testing link limits/pay‑walls for URLs in Facebook posts may hurt creators and small business marketers — a potential headwind for engagement and ad demand if rolled out broadly. Inc: link limits MSN
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent small disclosed sales by COO Javier Oliván and CLO Jennifer Newstead have been publicized — modest in size but sometimes interpreted negatively by short‑term traders. Oliván SEC filing Newstead SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Capital‑intensity concerns: commentators and videos are flagging Meta’s very large AI investments (debate around ~$75B scale) and the timing of returns — a persistent risk for margins and near‑term cash flow until monetization ramps. YouTube: AI bet discussion

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.