Franchise Capital Ltd Has $26.05 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Franchise Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 44,488 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,397 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 12.1% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after purchasing an additional 698,884 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $640.20.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % 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 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 327,116 shares of company stock worth $198,171,544. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $599.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $589.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $548.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $343.17 and a 52 week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.