Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 752,584 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 16,197 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.6% of Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $433,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $704.26.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%
NASDAQ:META traded down $10.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $682.87. The stock had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,521,911. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $604.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $619.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total transaction of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
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