Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Has $52.77 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,562 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,561 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $52,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 214,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $123,722,000 after buying an additional 23,804 shares during the period. Future You Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Future You Wealth LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Melfa Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Melfa Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,463,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 453 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $296,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

META traded up $2.87 on Friday, reaching $704.28. 12,743,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,336,421. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $686.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $638.34. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. 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 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 target price (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $736.05.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.