Community Trust & Investment Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,471 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.1% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $567.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $509.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company 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 was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 250,817 shares of company stock worth $132,547,715 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $619.20.

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.