Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Franchise Capital Ltd’s 4th Largest Position

Franchise Capital Ltd lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,300 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,350 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 7.8% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.9% in the second quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Seascape Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the second quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 5,416 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,998,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,632 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,572. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $818.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Threads ad rollout expands immediate ad-monetization optionality for a 400M+ MAU product, supporting near-term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors point to attractive valuation after the pullback (multiple firms reiterating buys and high price targets), encouraging value-oriented buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/tech progress: Meta’s AI lab reportedly delivered its first in-house models, a signal that internal AI capability is advancing and could support future product monetization and efficiency gains. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Hardware/metaverse upside: TD Cowen raised its PT and Meta plans to ramp Meta Glasses production, which supports longer-term diversification of revenue streams. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta suspended teen access to its AI characters globally while it builds a teen-specific version — a precautionary move that reduces regulatory/PR risk but could slow feature engagement and short-term monetization from those users. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings (Jan. 28) and especially 2026 CapEx guidance are the primary near-term catalysts — strong revenue/AI updates could lift shares, while higher-than-expected CapEx would likely pressure the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider activity: COO Javier Oliván’s routine share sales continue to be disclosed; amounts are modest relative to his holdings and the company, so impact is limited. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: UK regulator Ofcom opened an investigation into Meta’s responsiveness on WhatsApp data requests, increasing compliance uncertainty in Europe. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: Meta is contesting evidence limits ahead of a New Mexico child-safety trial — unfavorable rulings or negative publicity could weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: Some firms have trimmed price targets (Stifel cut its PT; UBS trimmed earlier), reflecting sensitivity to guidance and spending — these moves can cap near-term upside if guidance disappoints. Read More.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of META opened at $658.76 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $642.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $697.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.29.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

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.