D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 7,459 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson & Co. boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,459 additional shares and bringing its total to 91,868 shares worth about $60.6 million.
• Meta reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $10.44 topping estimates of $6.67 and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion.
• Despite the earnings beat, Meta shares were down 1.2% and the stock has seen mixed analyst action, with several firms trimming price targets while the overall consensus remains a Moderate Buy.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,868 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,459 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 2,315 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $847,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 179,103 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $118,224,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Sentinel Trust Co. LBA raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA now owns 9,656 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,374,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total transaction of $562,767.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total value of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 168,193 shares of company stock worth $107,642,717. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $609.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $627.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $645.30. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.31.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain bullish on Meta Platforms, with recent notes from firms like BofA and Erste Group lifting earnings estimates or price targets after strong Q1 results, reinforcing expectations for meaningful upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI push is drawing attention as the company reportedly works on AI agents and improved models like Muse Spark, which could support new products and future monetization opportunities. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary pieces continue to frame Meta as an important AI and large-cap tech name, but these are mostly opinion-driven and do not add new fundamental information for the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta was also mentioned in a deal roundup about acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, but the report provided little detail, so the market impact is unclear. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports highlighting employee dissatisfaction and impending layoffs suggest Meta’s AI transformation is creating internal friction, while also reminding investors that the company’s AI ambitions come with higher costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern remains centered on Meta’s enormous 2026 capex plan, estimated at $125 billion to $145 billion, which is fueling fears that profitability could come under pressure before AI investments pay off. Article Title

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.

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