Donaldson Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,771 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Scotiabank raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up previously from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $847.40.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Big-capex boost: Meta’s plan to spend up to $135 billion in 2026 continues to be a major positive catalyst for investors who view it as funding AI, data centers and long?term growth — the announcement previously drove a large share pop and is supporting bullish sentiment. META Pops 10% on $135b Capex Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional support: Diamond Hill Capital increased its stake, a signal that some money managers remain confident in Meta’s fundamentals and long?run thesis. Institutional buying can underpin the stock even amid headline noise. Diamond Hill boosts stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI/data center progress & deal activity: Reporting indicates an AI/data?center deal is advancing while related corporate developments proceed — commercially positive but still distant from immediate revenue recognition. Child safety lawsuit proceeds as AI data center deal advances
• Neutral Sentiment: Reality Labs repositioning: Meta’s CTO called cuts to Reality Labs “a real cause for sadness” but reiterated the company remains bullish on VR — suggests management is reallocating capital toward higher?growth AI and data infrastructure. Meta CTO on Reality Labs cuts
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust escalation: The European Commission has sent a statement of objections and signaled it may impose interim measures to stop Meta from blocking rival AI assistants on WhatsApp — a material regulatory risk that could weaken Meta’s AI distribution advantages in Europe and force product changes or fines. Meta has publicly criticised the move, but the threat of fast interim remedies increases near?term uncertainty. EU threatens Meta with interim measure
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure in U.S. trials: Opening arguments began in high?profile cases (New Mexico, LA) alleging addictive design and child?safety failures; unsealed researcher documents alleging large numbers of exploited minors amplify reputational and litigation risk and could lead to damages or stricter regulation. These proceedings keep downside risk elevated for investors. Meta and YouTube Created ‘Digital Casinos,’ Lawyers Argue

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,962,956.64. The trade was a 21.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,561 shares of company stock valued at $23,673,584. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $677.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $657.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $694.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The company’s revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

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.