Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,625 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Securities upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,816 shares of company stock worth $132,421,828 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $576.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $546.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $508.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.