Bradyco Inc. Makes New $1.60 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bradyco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,739 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,604,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.1% of Bradyco Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after acquiring an additional 186,728 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $619.56 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $658.13 and a 200-day moving average of $602.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total transaction of $260,008.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 18,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,546,130.40. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $622.24, for a total transaction of $22,351,483.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 725,689 shares of company stock worth $473,072,897 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

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.