Country Trust Bank Has $82.07 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Country Trust Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 143,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,025 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Country Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $82,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the third quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 371 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total transaction of $241,080.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,973,238.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $583.73, for a total transaction of $241,080.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,973,238.58. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total transaction of $7,487,274.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,178,793.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 266,332 shares of company stock valued at $139,981,833 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $601.08.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $592.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $532.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $503.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid 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 dividend yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.