Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,045 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,731 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price objective (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded down $15.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $504.22. The stock had a trading volume of 15,819,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,444,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $479.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $452.69. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.38 and a twelve month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 233,512 shares of company stock valued at $113,597,536 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.