Heartland Bank & Trust Co Sells 154 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.0% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% in 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 position in shares of 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 period. ERn Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.0% in the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% in the second quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 34,790 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at $6,456,828. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $573.25 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 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $602.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $551.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $510.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $621.63.

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.