Brighton Jones LLC Acquires 1,153 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,940 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foster Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the third 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 during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,268,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. JBR Co Financial Management Inc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 4,170 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the third quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the sale, the insider owned 29,177 shares in the company, valued at $19,238,730.26. This represents a 1.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total value of $341,793.87. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,335.87. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3%

META opened at $666.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $656.79 and a 200-day moving average of $706.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.