Jennison Associates LLC Has $3.94 Billion Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,118,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 444,817 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.9% of Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,935,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $481.73 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $207.13 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $494.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $401.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total transaction of $1,777,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,796,825. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 552 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total transaction of $256,128.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,853,952. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.00, for a total value of $1,777,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,435 shares in the company, valued at $29,796,825. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,391,935 shares of company stock worth $666,288,408 over the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.