Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Cut by Sage Mountain Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sage Mountain Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms by 9.4% in Q4, selling 2,065 shares and ending the period with 19,813 shares worth $13.08 million (about 0.7% of the firm's holdings, its 24th largest position).
• Meta reported a strong quarter—EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16 expected and revenue $59.89 billion (up 23.8% YoY)—and paid a $0.525 quarterly dividend, while bullish analyst upgrades and AI/data‑center partnerships have driven an average price target near $837 and higher individual targets.
• Potential headwinds include substantial insider selling under 10b5‑1 plans (166,117 shares, ~$106M over 90 days) and emerging privacy and litigation risks, such as reports of employee activity tracking and a class‑action alleging profit from scam ads.

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,813 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,065 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.7% of Sage Mountain Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R. W. Roge & Company Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. R. W. Roge & Company Inc. now owns 1,654 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,683 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,751,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of META stock opened at $674.72 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $627.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $650.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $516.52 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.83 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank reiterates a Buy and highlights Meta’s AI investments that could boost core ad revenue — bullish research note and $920 target underpins upside expectations. Deutsche Bank AI Impact
• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target (to ~$908) and Citi/JMP reaffirmed market-outperform/near-$900 targets — multiple analyst upgrades lend momentum to the rally and support investor confidence. UBS hikes target
• Positive Sentiment: Meta broke ground on a >$1B data center in Tulsa and is ramping AI-capacity builds — tangible infrastructure expansion signals commitment to AI compute and long-term revenue/efficiency gains. Tulsa data center
• Positive Sentiment: Noon Energy partnership reserves up to 1 GW / 100 GWh of long‑duration energy storage for Meta data centers — supports resilient, green AI operations and may lower operational risk/costs for large-capex builds. Noon Energy deal
• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom extended/expanded AI partnership with Meta through 2029 — supply/partnership continuity for AI hardware helps execution of Meta’s scale-up plans. Broadcom pact
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Q1 earnings (Apr 29): company guidance implies very strong YoY revenue growth and Muse Spark AI monetization will be watched — results/guidance could amplify moves in either direction. Earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan disclosed scheduled sales under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan (multiple small blocks sold) — routine insider selling but worth noting given timing; not currently tied to new guidance. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta will log employees’ keystrokes/mouse activity to train AI have sparked privacy and employee‑relations concerns — potential PR, morale and regulatory risks that could attract scrutiny. Employee tracking
• Negative Sentiment: The Consumer Federation of America filed a class-action alleging Meta profited from scam ads and misled users — fresh litigation risk that could increase legal costs and reputational pressure. CFA lawsuit

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $855.00 to $760.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,144.00 to $1,015.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $872.00 to $908.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $837.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.09, for a total value of $629,763.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,631 shares in the company, valued at $6,549,946.79. The trade was a 8.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 166,117 shares of company stock valued at $106,367,778. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.