Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Norway Savings Bank

Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,362 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 536 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Norway Savings Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Norway Savings Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.00.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $682.35 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $618.10 and its 200-day moving average is $623.24. 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 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.99, for a total value of $364,332.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,121,841.36. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,423 shares of company stock worth $73,580,663. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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