Flputnam Investment Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,880 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,679 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the first quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,620 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the second quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.4% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $43,790,000 after buying an additional 5,224 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 176,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $130,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 210,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $155,387,000 after acquiring an additional 20,912 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Baird reaffirmed an “Outperform” rating on META and kept a high price target (trimmed slightly to $815), signaling continued analyst confidence in ad recovery and AI-driven margin upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report analysts remain generally bullish on Meta heading into 2026, supporting demand for shares as investors position for AI monetization and ad strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum: reports of a new “Mango” AI model and a software update improving noise reduction for Meta’s AI glasses bolster prospects for differentiated AI features that can lift user engagement and ad effectiveness. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ad product execution: Ads Uploader exiting beta in 30 countries could improve ad operations for agencies (incremental revenue/enhanced ad spend efficiency), but impact will be gradual. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary notes momentum cooling below resistance around $675 — useful for short‑term traders but not a direct fundamental change. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Two insider sales were filed this week: Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares and COO Javier Oliván sold 517 shares — small dollar amounts relative to insider holdings but sometimes interpreted negatively by short‑term traders. Newstead SEC Filing Oliván SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Product/policy headwinds: reports that Meta is testing pay‑walls for URLs in Facebook posts and limiting links could hurt creators and small business marketers, a potential risk to engagement and ad demand if widespread. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk: FTC data highlights $65M in rental scams since 2020 that often originate on Facebook, reminding investors of regulatory and trust issues that could pressure engagement or attract enforcement. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $925.00 to $815.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $664.94 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $657.80 and its 200-day moving average is $707.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares in the company, valued at $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.