Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 3,902 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,861 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Whittier Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $111,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.31.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.4 %

META stock traded down $15.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $610.98. The company had a trading volume of 12,592,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,819,907. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $656.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $608.00. 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, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value of $243,323.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 585,605 shares of company stock worth $386,710,448. Insiders own 13.71% 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.