Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Has $7.81 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,997 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,672,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 4,044 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 9,317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 25,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $14,518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 524 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ META opened at $572.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $583.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $521.88 and its 200 day moving average is $501.35.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.