FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 465 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,036 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the first quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $509.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $480.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $458.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.38 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following 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 is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following 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 have sold 218,086 shares of company stock worth $106,423,370 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.