Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Farmers Trust Co.

Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,428 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Pivotal Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $780.00 price objective for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total transaction of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,308,262.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $578.55, for a total value of $523,587.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,102 shares in the company, valued at $20,308,262.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,104,462.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 300,228 shares of company stock valued at $158,005,260. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $582.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $524.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.92. 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 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $583.36.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.