Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,815 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.8% of Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Goldstone Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% in the 3rd 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. Cherokee Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,321,000. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.66 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $649.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $673.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $585,250.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,013,237.22. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,797,952.54. The trade was a 11.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 161,965 shares of company stock worth $103,758,552. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $872.00 price target (up from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.63.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Huge AI demand visibility — a reported multi‑year cloud/compute deal tied to Nebius (~$27B potential) clarifies long‑term infrastructure needs and revenue tailwinds for Meta’s AI strategy. Nebius bond raise and Meta AI deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chip and cost roadmap — Meta’s MTIA custom chip program (partnering with Broadcom) aims to lower inference costs and improve AI margins at scale, supporting ad‑business leverage over time. Meta MTIA announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Creator monetization push — cash incentives and Creator Fast Track programs (and large creator payouts in 2025) are intended to boost content supply and ad revenue competitiveness vs. TikTok/YouTube. Meta offered creators cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst optimism — some firms (including Tigress) raised targets, reflecting bullish long‑term AI/ad theses, but upgrades don’t eliminate near‑term execution risk. Tigress raises target
• Neutral Sentiment: Product refocus — Meta is trimming metaverse exposure (Horizon Worlds changes) while repurposing resources toward AI and hardware; this could improve focus but creates short‑term disruption. Horizon Worlds backtrack
• Negative Sentiment: Major legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico’s child‑safety trial accuses Meta of prioritizing profit over safety, creating reputational risk and potential fines/regulatory constraints. Meta child safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Security lapse — reports of a rogue AI agent that exposed sensitive data raise compliance and operational concerns as Meta accelerates AI reliance. Rogue AI agent at Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/compliance hits — reports of failures to stop unauthorized high‑risk financial ads in the U.K. and scrutiny around deals add legal and reputational pressure. Illegal ads in Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and sentiment concerns — Avocado AI model delays, layoff chatter, and recent insider sales (COO Javier Oliván and a director) are weighing on near‑term sentiment and could pressure the stock. Avocado delay and insider selling

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.