STAR Financial Bank Sells 135 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

STAR Financial Bank cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,286 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st 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. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $524.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $505.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $495.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Company 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.