Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 11,721 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. has increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 30.9%, acquiring an additional 11,721 shares, bringing its total to 49,600 shares valued at approximately $36.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their stakes in Meta, with holdings now constituting about 79.91% of the company's stock.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, yielding approximately 0.3%, and reported a strong earnings performance with $7.14 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,600 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,721 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,691 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,453,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 62.5% in the first quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 46.0% in the first quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC now owns 711 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $704.81, for a total value of $364,386.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,702,038.29. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.98, for a total value of $372,112.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,016,834.74. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $705.30 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $752.20 and its 200 day moving average is $678.77. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

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.

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