Thomasville National Bank Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,704 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.7% of Thomasville National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Thomasville National Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,441.0% in the 1st quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,433 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,777,000 after acquiring an additional 19,107 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,126 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1,769.3% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,296 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $48,009,000 after purchasing an additional 78,840 shares during the last quarter. Defined Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $544,000. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the first quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped 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. Needham & Company LLC restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $10.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $682.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,259,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,501,078. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $604.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $619.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value 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 represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,201 shares of company stock valued at $56,377,837 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.