J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in Q4 to 74,067 shares (value $48.89M), making Meta ~3.9% of the firm's portfolio and its 11th largest holding.
• Notable insider selling: CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares (~$36.47M) and insiders have offloaded 161,448 shares (~$103.33M) over the last 90 days, while insiders still own 13.61% of the company.
• Operational and market snapshot: Meta beat EPS and revenue in the latest quarter (EPS $8.88 vs. $8.16 expected; revenue $59.89B), has a $1.45T market cap, a consensus "Moderate Buy" average target of $845.54, and recently paid a $0.525 quarterly dividend.

J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,067 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.9% of J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $1,191,175,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the third quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched new Ray‑Ban prescription smart glasses and Oakley updates that add hands‑free features (nutrition logging, real‑time translation), reinforcing growth prospects for Reality Labs and consumer AR wearables. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Corning broke ground on a large optical‑cable expansion in North Carolina to support AI data‑center buildout—strengthening Meta’s supply chain for AI infrastructure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market pieces highlight Meta’s AI and engagement feature rollouts (and recent product launches) as drivers for ad growth; buy‑side firms including Morgan Stanley/others continue to call the pullback a tactical buying opportunity. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing Instagram Plus (paid tier) and other monetization experiments; these could boost ARPU if scaled, but are currently limited pilot programs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is sharing retail and wearables learnings with partners to help physical retail for its AI/VR products—incremental channel development, uncertain near‑term revenue impact. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta suffered two major legal setbacks: a New Mexico ruling holding it accountable for child safety and an LA jury finding apps were designed to addict teens—both raise potential damages, regulatory pressure and litigation risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia summoned Meta over non‑compliance with new rules protecting under‑16 users, and regulators in other markets are flagging potential breaches—heightening compliance costs and moderation burdens. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta announced another round of layoffs impacting ~168 Washington state employees, signalling continued cost actions but also operational disruption in key VR/Reality teams. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total value of $366,571.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $845.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $572.13 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $641.61 and its 200 day moving average is $663.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

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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