Mechanics Bank Trust Department Purchases New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 841 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,424,543,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,223,148,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,220,171,000. Morgan Stanley acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,072,543,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,796,633,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $300.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $333.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $320.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $310.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.79.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of META opened at $300.31 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $302.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $772.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.09 and a 1-year high of $326.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.36. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 18.70%. The firm had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.91 billion. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 722 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.67, for a total transaction of $229,357.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,805,837.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 722 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.67, for a total transaction of $229,357.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,805,837.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total value of $3,258,780.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 91,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,052,209.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $12,474,820 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is currently 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.