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

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Objective Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 19,786 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,003,000 after purchasing an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,449,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,929,029,000 after purchasing an additional 407,412 shares during the period. Gerber LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,310,000. Finally, True Vision MN LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $496,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.5 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $506.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $480.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $444.30.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.34, for a total value of $8,406,784.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 275,297 shares in the company, valued at $138,567,991.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 422,564 shares of company stock worth $208,591,435 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.41.

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.