Bridges Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,193 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,566 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $670.72 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $657.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $694.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.94%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary: Jim Cramer publicly called META a buy, reinforcing retail and momentum interest in the name and supporting short-term demand. Jim Cramer on Meta Platforms (META): “I just think this one’s a buy”
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term AI investment thesis: A Seeking Alpha piece highlights aggressive AI capex and forecasts 22–31% near-term revenue growth, arguing Meta can sustain growth despite margin pressure — a supportive fundamental narrative for investors focused on multi-year returns. Meta Platforms: Follow The Numbers
• Positive Sentiment: Ad tools & ad revenue durability: A new free Meta Ads Rolling Reach Report for e-commerce advertisers could help optimize campaigns and demonstrate continued advertiser demand for Meta’s platforms. Incremental ad product adoption supports the advertising revenue outlook. growthzacks Releases Meta Ads Rolling Reach Report Generator for ECommerce Advertisers to Measure Audience Saturation
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/shopper endorsements: Recent retail and analyst write-ups (e.g., The Motley Fool) continue to feature META as a top growth pick, backing investor interest and buy-side conviction. 1 Top Growth Stock to Buy in February
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/peer comparisons: Pieces comparing Broadcom and Meta highlight AI exposure but present them as different risk/reward profiles; useful for allocation decisions but not an immediate catalyst. Broadcom or Meta Platforms? Which Is the Better Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Market context: Broader AI-led rotation and macro commentary (Zacks, market note) are lifting tech sentiment generally; Meta participates in that theme but is also idiosyncratically exposed to legal/regulatory news. Bulls Take Control Amid New AI Spending & Expanding Breadth
• Negative Sentiment: Alarming internal findings made public: Unsealed documents report a Meta researcher warned of up to 500,000 daily child exploitation cases on Facebook/Instagram — a reputational and litigation risk that can amplify regulatory scrutiny and attract settlement/penalty concerns. Meta researcher warned of 500K child exploitation cases daily on Facebook and Instagram platforms
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory pressure in EU over WhatsApp AI policy: The European Commission has charged Meta with breaching antitrust rules and threatened interim measures to force WhatsApp access for rival AI assistants — potential changes could limit product control and create compliance costs. EU threatens Meta with interim measure for blocking AI rivals from WhatsApp
• Negative Sentiment: Legal setbacks and trials: Landmark US trials accuse Meta of designing addictive products; separately, a German court ordered Meta’s Edge Network to pay Deutsche Telekom ~€30M — legal exposure and adverse rulings increase uncertainty and headline risk. Meta subsidiary loses appeal against Deutsche Telekom over network services Meta and YouTube Created ‘Digital Casinos,’ Lawyers Argue in Landmark Trial

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total value of $369,448.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,870,879. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,561 shares of company stock valued at $23,673,584. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $860.00 price target (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.50.

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.