Bank of New Hampshire Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bank of New Hampshire reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 987 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after buying an additional 946,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,945,799,000 after buying an additional 111,735 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $52.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $441.38. 82,260,612 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,201,887. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.88 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $403.14. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,368,244 shares of company stock worth $657,034,449 in the last quarter. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.