Smithfield Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,518 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ META opened at $559.14 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $572.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $524.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by 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.