Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Buys 3,100 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,161 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.8% of Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 14,776 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,230,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 241,702 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $85,553,000 after purchasing an additional 15,756 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $8,851,000. Legacy Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 32,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,789,000 after acquiring an additional 15,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 713,380 shares of company stock worth $351,867,744 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $476.99. The stock had a trading volume of 7,078,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,108,010. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $258.88 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The business's 50 day moving average price is $480.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $432.84.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.