Bridges Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 94.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,581 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $87,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $564.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $507.58 and a 200-day moving average of $497.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.