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

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 approximately 1.7% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $142,149,566,000 after buying an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,166,000 after buying an additional 1,016,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.60, for a total value of $369,448.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at $6,870,879. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total transaction of $358,602.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. The trade was a 9.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,561 shares of company stock worth $23,673,584. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0%

META opened at $670.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $657.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $694.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.50.

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.