Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Trust Co of the South

Trust Co of the South decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% during the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total transaction of $533,850.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 326,211 shares of company stock worth $197,633,759. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $640.20.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $9.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $594.97. 7,798,901 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,682,313. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $588.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $547.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $343.17 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.