Davidson Trust Co. Takes $262,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Davidson Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 740 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on META. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $465.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total transaction of $7,568,131.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $17.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $483.86. 11,407,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,946,234. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $494.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

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.