Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Legacy Private Trust Co.

Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,852 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Legacy Private Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 361,640 shares of company stock valued at $219,037,690. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $7.17 on Wednesday, hitting $610.72. 9,675,019 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,069,182. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $355.36 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $591.41 and a 200 day moving average of $551.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.