Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by United Bank

United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,558 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.1% of United Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. United Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first 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 in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $531.93 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.03 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $502.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $490.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.