United Bank increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,186 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.5% of United Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. United Bank's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,087,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after buying an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %
META stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Monday, hitting $576.36. 21,103,853 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,265,834. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $655.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $609.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, 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.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,410 shares of company stock worth $386,031,454 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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