Security National Bank of SO Dak Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 719 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 130,473 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $75,199,000 after buying an additional 9,379 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,090 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 42,782 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,658,000 after buying an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 55.9% during the first quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd now owns 50,730 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $29,239,000 after buying an additional 18,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 24,237 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,969,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. This trade represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 153,184 shares of company stock valued at $105,128,004 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $3.41 on Monday, hitting $720.92. 8,913,566 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,437,846. The firm's 50-day moving average is $674.77 and its 200 day moving average is $634.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $729.38.

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.