Brighton Jones LLC Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,940 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,506 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 488 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $666.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $656.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $706.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,238,730.26. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total transaction of $374,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.