Iowa State Bank Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Iowa State Bank decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,856 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.0% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,000. TAP Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. TAP Consulting LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Nvest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 1,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $538.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $505.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 10.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $660.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.71.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.89, for a total value of $533,850.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,172,468.33. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.