First Citizens Financial Corp Purchases 50 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $582.77 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $583.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $524.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.92.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

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.