United Community Bank Has $2.97 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

United Community Bank raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,153 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 435 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of United Community Bank's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. United Community Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,273,234 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,344,721,000 after purchasing an additional 229,717 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 55,817 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $32,171,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares in the last quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 25,726 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $14,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 83,369 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $48,051,000 after purchasing an additional 32,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,755,013.36. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,225,251.04. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 153,764 shares of company stock worth $105,721,208. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of META traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $704.28. 12,743,944 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,336,421. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $686.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $638.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $828.00 price target (up previously from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $736.05.

Meta Platforms 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.