Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 136.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,517 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 1,690 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,185 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 39,358 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $22,685,000 after acquiring an additional 17,414 shares during the period. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 3,981 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,299,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,404 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $27,322,000 after acquiring an additional 5,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $23.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $670.90. The stock had a trading volume of 15,706,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,486,998. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $578.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $611.28.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $329,777.79. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,202,725.61. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,903. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Guggenheim increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.
View Our Latest Stock Report on META
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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