Commerce Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 272,511 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of Commerce Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Commerce Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $159,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total transaction of $602,730.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,510,470. This trade represents a 3.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 378,583 shares of company stock valued at $259,991,992. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $18.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $503.28. The stock had a trading volume of 7,670,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,770,273. The business's 50-day moving average price is $603.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $606.43. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.67.

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.