Eastern Bank Purchases 4,798 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1%, now owning 161,706 shares valued at approximately $93.2 million.
• Meta Platforms' latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $7.14, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $5.75, with revenue rising by 21.6% year-over-year.
• Company insiders have sold a total of 152,372 shares worth over $105 million in the past three months, contributing to 13.61% insider ownership of the stock.

Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,706 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of Eastern Bank's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Eastern Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $93,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Benchmark raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $768.07. 3,441,751 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $478.65 and a 52 week high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $704.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $647.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

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.