Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Bell Bank

Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,240 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Bell Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Bell Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $1.46 on Thursday, hitting $695.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,635,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,973. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock's 50-day moving average is $612.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $621.89.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total transaction of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,512 shares of company stock valued at $73,590,232 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.