Franchise Capital Ltd Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Franchise Capital Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,503 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 985 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 14.0% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,628 shares of company stock valued at $34,826,386. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $643.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $577.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.