Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Heartland Bank & Trust Co

Heartland Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.28.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $572.44 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $577.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $500.20. 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 company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total transaction of $4,615,448.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 324,751 shares of company stock valued at $170,575,643 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.