Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,223 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.4% of SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 628 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 21,473 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 38,987 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 18,627 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,295,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $525.72 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $643.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $666.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Entergy revised its Louisiana data-center deal with Meta so Meta will pay full cost-of-service and fund local energy upgrades (including seven natural‑gas plants), reducing project/regulatory risk for the hyperscale build. Entergy revised Meta data-center deal (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Some sell‑the‑news rhetoric has created value opportunities: analysts point to cheaper valuation metrics and upgraded EPS forecasts, with commentators highlighting potential cost-savings from restructuring. Meta Platforms: Lean Into The Fear (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is aggressively doubling down on AI infrastructure (Arm CPU initiative, large new data‑center programs) — a long‑term strategic positive for AI monetization but a near‑term cash drain that fuels investor uncertainty. Meta deepens AI strategy with new Arm CPU initiative (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta paid its first 2026 dividend ($0.525/share) — a modest income signal to investors but not material to the valuation story. Meta paid dividend (Finbold)
• Negative Sentiment: Two recent jury verdicts (including a $375M award and punitive damages from a social‑media addiction case) have raised the prospect of broader legal liability, regulatory changes and appeals that could increase future costs and compliance expenses. Meta shares slip after US jury verdicts (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Meta joins a tech selloff this week (Nasdaq weakness), with share price declines of double‑digit percentages from recent highs as investors factor in litigation risk and margin pressure from AI capex. Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets report steep intraday drops and heavy option activity as traders reposition; headlines argue the verdicts could trigger follow‑on litigation or regulatory remedies that resemble a “Big Tobacco”‑style reckoning. Meta stock plunges after lawsuit defeats (Blockonomi)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on META shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $850.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $846.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,967 shares of company stock worth $103,675,648. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.