Bridgewater Associates LP Buys 43,928 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 666,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,928 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $235,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $9.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $502.60. 11,221,045 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,914,746. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $480.74 and a 200 day moving average of $438.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.33 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total value of $288,843.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 40,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,114,387.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.75, for a total transaction of $288,843.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 40,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,114,387.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $535,549.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 575,820 shares of company stock valued at $283,363,103. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.