Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,122 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.1% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the first quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 345.5% in the first quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,430 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,973,000 after buying an additional 39,885 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $4,539,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 330,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $160,528,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $560.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.20.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $582.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $547.72 and a 200-day moving average of $509.22. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. 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 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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 company 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%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $311,493,681. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.75, for a total transaction of $295,569.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 518,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,493,681. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 250,324 shares of company stock worth $132,218,368. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.