Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Boosted by Davis Rea LTD.

Davis Rea LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,465 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 6.2% of Davis Rea LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total value of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. The trade was a 74.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 166,638 shares of company stock worth $106,697,681. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.67.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $610.45 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $629.62 and a 200 day moving average of $647.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.82 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI-driven ad momentum: Meta’s recent quarter showed ~33% revenue growth driven by AI-powered ad pricing, reinforcing revenue durability and upside to ad monetization trends. Meta Platforms vs Snap: Who’s Really Winning Digital Ads?
• Positive Sentiment: Big data‑center expansion: Bloomberg/Reuters report Meta is lining up roughly $13 billion in financing (led by Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan) for a new El Paso, TX, AI/data-center complex — a sign of ongoing investment in AI capacity that supports long‑term revenue opportunities but also signals heavy capex. Meta taps Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan for El Paso data center deal, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI R&D push: Meta acquired Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) to accelerate humanoid‑robot AI efforts — an R&D move that underscores Meta’s broader AI roadmap and long‑term platform expansion. Meta Acquires ARI to Fuel Humanoid Robot Push
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst actions are mixed: Several firms reaffirm Buy but trimmed price targets (e.g., Truist lowered its PT to $840 from $900 while keeping a Buy). This keeps institutional support intact but signals tempered near‑term upside expectations. Truist Reduces PT on Meta Platforms (META) Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk — New Mexico youth‑safety trial: State seeks court-ordered platform changes and large penalties in a case alleging harm to young users; outcomes could force costly product changes or damages. New Mexico seeks changes to Meta platforms in youth harm trial
• Negative Sentiment: Reputation and regulatory headlines: Reuters won a Pulitzer for reporting on investigations that allege Meta knowingly exposed users (including minors) to harmful AI chatbots and profited from fraudulent ads — amplifies regulatory scrutiny and reputational risk. Reuters wins beat reporting Pulitzer for Meta investigations
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/legal probe: A shareholder law firm is investigating Meta’s board for potential oversight failures around privacy and AI training practices — another headline that can pressure investor sentiment. Berger Montague PC Investigates Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Board of Directors for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

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.