Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,785 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.5% of Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $673.96, for a total transaction of $409,767.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,837,841.52. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,664 shares of company stock worth $35,484,670. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $642.23. 16,230,863 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,491,179. The firm's fifty day moving average is $578.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $610.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Meta Platforms, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Meta Platforms wasn't on the list.
While Meta Platforms currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Need to stretch out your 401K or Roth IRA plan? Use these time-tested investing strategies to grow the monthly retirement income that your stock portfolio generates.
Get This Free Report
