Private Trust Co. NA Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,150 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.6% of Private Trust Co. NA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Private Trust Co. NA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at $5,818,837.41. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 153,677 shares of company stock valued at $105,221,340 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $718.35. The stock had a trading volume of 9,436,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,524,385. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $658.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $630.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.29.

About Meta Platforms

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.