Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Has $436,000 Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 745 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded down $7.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $687.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,296,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,553,415. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $645.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $589.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.