Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its Meta stake by 40.9% in Q4, adding 3,996 shares to hold 13,767 shares valued at about $9.09 million.
• CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares for roughly $36.47 million on Feb. 27, and insiders have sold a total of 161,448 shares worth ~$103.33 million over the past 90 days (insiders now own 13.61%).
• Meta is expanding into AI hardware and clinical VR (new Ray‑Ban AI glasses, VA partnership) but faces layoffs and rising legal/regulatory risk; analysts show a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $843.57.

Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 40.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,767 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $44,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the third quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total transaction of $560,581.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares in the company, valued at $8,072,742.30. This trade represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $843.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launched new AI wearables — Meta expanded its Ray‑Ban smart‑glasses lineup (prescription Ray‑Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Meta Scriber Optics), reinforcing the company’s push to monetize AI-powered consumer hardware and services. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Strengthens AI Strategy With New Glasses and Services
• Positive Sentiment: Moves into clinical VR with VA — Meta partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to scale clinical-grade VR therapy in VA medical centers, signaling enterprise and regulated-market adoption for its VR/Quest platform. This can open non‑advertising revenue channels. Meta’s VA Partnership Puts Clinical VR Therapy In Meta Platforms Story
• Positive Sentiment: Building AI hardware capability — Meta’s Superintelligence Labs hired veteran engineer Rui Xu to lead hardware efforts, suggesting deeper investment in custom AI devices beyond glasses, which supports long‑term vertical integration for AI compute and products. Meta Superintelligence Labs is quietly building a hardware team
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trims price target but stays constructive — Wells Fargo cut its PT to $765 (from $856) while maintaining an Overweight rating, reflecting confidence in long‑term AI upside despite nearer‑term uncertainty ahead of earnings. Ahead of Meta, Alphabet earnings, Wells Fargo keeps overweight, cuts PTs
• Neutral Sentiment: China signals support for lawful cross‑border deals — Beijing said it supports law‑abiding transnational tech deals after reports of a Meta review, offering potential clarity for any China‑related partnerships or supply arrangements. China says it supports law‑abiding transnational deals after reports of Meta deal review
• Negative Sentiment: Bay Area layoffs — Meta is cutting roughly 200 roles in the San Francisco Bay Area as it restructures teams while reallocating capital toward AI infrastructure; layoffs can be read as cost discipline but also highlight internal reshaping and near‑term workforce disruption. Meta's Bay Area layoffs affect roughly 200 workers as company pours billions into AI infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Rising legal/regulatory risk — Recent court losses and challenges to Section 230 protections have increased litigation and regulatory uncertainty for Meta, which could lead to higher compliance costs, content moderation expense and potential liabilities. Meta, Google under attack as court cases bypass 30‑year‑old legal shieldWhat's next for Meta in the wake of trial losses and layoffs?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and PT trims — Morgan Stanley cut its PT to $775 citing softer ad trends and Erste downgraded to Hold; analyst cuts increase selling pressure and shorten the runway for multiple near‑term catalysts. Morgan Stanley trims PT on Meta Platforms (META) to $775 amid softer advertising backdropMeta Platforms was downgraded by Erste Group Bank AG

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $574.46 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $637.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $660.71. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The firm's revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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