Commerce Bank Acquires 58,767 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 21.6%, now holding 331,278 shares worth approximately $190.9 million, making it the bank's 13th largest position.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, significantly above analysts' expectations of $5.75, while revenue rose by 21.6% year-over-year to $47.52 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.10 and a yield of 0.3%.

Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 331,278 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 58,767 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.2% of Commerce Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Commerce Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $190,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth 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 valued at $7,030,399,000 after buying an additional 280,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,815 shares of company stock valued at $117,135,845 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

META traded up $8.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $771.99. The company had a trading volume of 9,653,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,549,258. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $707.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $648.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.