Argent Trust Co Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, owning 55,827 shares valued at approximately $32.18 million, making it the 13th largest position in their portfolio.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares at an average price of $768.67, totaling over $12 million, as insiders sold a total of 199,509 shares worth approximately $141.5 million in the last three months.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Meta Platforms' stock price targets significantly, with JMP Securities raising it from $750 to $900, reflecting strong market confidence in the company's performance.

Argent Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,827 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Argent Trust Co's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $768.67, for a total value of $12,181,113.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,024 shares of company stock valued at $188,466,159. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $769.30. 7,308,601 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,494,221. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $711.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $649.96. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

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.