FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,966 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th 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 period. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total transaction of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,098,156. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock worth $185,587,773. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on META. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ META opened at $524.62 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $505.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio 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.