Legacy Trust Sells 652 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Legacy Trust trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 652 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Legacy Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 158,414 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $56,072,000 after acquiring an additional 26,416 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 985 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 48,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,236,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $572.51.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 315,770 shares of company stock valued at $157,719,910 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $526.76. The stock had a trading volume of 10,771,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,373,998. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $498.29 and a 200 day moving average of $485.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.