Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 6,573 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,950 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,573 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta struck a multiyear deal to buy millions of Nvidia AI chips (GPUs and new standalone CPUs) to power its data‑center and AI stack, accelerating its ability to deploy large models and AI features across apps (WhatsApp cited). This reduces execution risk for Meta’s AI roadmap and supports revenue upside from AI-driven ad/product improvements. Nvidia to sell Meta millions of chips in multiyear deal
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has made a large, high‑profile investment in Meta, signaling smart‑money conviction that the stock is undervalued given its AI growth potential; this can lift investor sentiment and attract other institutional buyers. Meta’s Platforms’ New Bull: Why Billionaire Bill Ackman Is Buying
• Positive Sentiment: Supply‑chain/infra tailwind: reporting highlights a large Meta partnership with Corning (reported ~$6B deal to outfit data centers). That supports Meta’s capex plans for data‑center expansion and underpins investments tied to AI workloads. Corning’s Surprise AI Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Third‑party ecosystem news: Virtuix announced its Omni One treadmill will be Made for Meta (Quest) certified, expanding XR ecosystem engagement — a positive for product stickiness but unlikely to move Meta’s top line materially near term. Virtuix Omni One to Launch Compatibility with Meta Quest Headsets
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: Spain has asked prosecutors to probe X, Meta and TikTok over AI‑generated images allegedly involving minors, increasing legal/PR risk and potential compliance costs or fines tied to AI content moderation. That raises near‑term regulatory uncertainty for Meta’s platforms. Spain to Probe X, Meta, TikTok Over AI Images
• Negative Sentiment: Market/regulatory risk in India: Indian officials are discussing age‑based social‑media restrictions that could meaningfully affect user reach and ad monetization in one of Meta’s largest markets, increasing policy risk and potential future revenue impact. India discussing age-based restrictions with social media firms, top minister says

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total transaction of $341,793.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,717 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,335.87. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,478 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,696. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,117.00 to $1,144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.29.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $639.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $656.74 and a 200 day moving average of $691.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.