Enterprise Bank & Trust Co Sells 287 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,528 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.2% of Enterprise Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total transaction of $21,838,890.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 411,357 shares of company stock valued at $249,545,428. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5 %

META stock traded down $9.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $606.49. 7,843,678 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,533,051. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $358.61 and a 52-week high of $638.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $593.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $553.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.05.

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.