Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,049 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.5% of Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 64.9% in the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 8,343 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,158,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $107,000. KDT Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the second quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $931,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 2,671 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,972,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on META shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $827.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.25, for a total transaction of $376,923.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,173,185. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.00, for a total transaction of $9,062,850.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,394,225. This trade represents a 86.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,421 shares of company stock worth $33,573,980. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $609.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $716.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $703.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

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.