Emprise Bank Sells 77 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Emprise Bank decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,302 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Emprise Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ERn Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total value of $4,615,448.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 178,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.87, for a total value of $4,615,448.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 178,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,191,218.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $235,410.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,044,630. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 308,462 shares of company stock valued at $162,308,065 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $572.81 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $583.04. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $521.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James lifted 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 report on Monday, July 1st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.08.

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.