Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Trimmed by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 802,202 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 160,208 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $459,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,906 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $574.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $526.03.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,000 shares in the company, valued at $269,449,230. This represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total value of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,641,281.24. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

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.