First County Bank CT Acquires 52 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First County Bank CT increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after purchasing an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 541.8% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after acquiring an additional 5,230 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.5% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,852,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, In Depth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the first quarter. In Depth Partners LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,005,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,141 shares of company stock valued at $83,390,497 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $559.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $572.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $524.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $313.66 and a 12-month high of $602.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Meta Platforms 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.