Donaldson Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 43.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,771 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares during the quarter. 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.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $835.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $847.40.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

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

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 8.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,561 shares of company stock valued at $23,673,584. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

Meta Platforms 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.