Sunflower Bank N.A. Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,859 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.5% of Sunflower Bank N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after buying an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This trade represents a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.41, for a total transaction of $7,984,944.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 381,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,649,678.90. This represents a 3.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 423,427 shares of company stock valued at $256,996,450 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $650.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $608.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $594.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $554.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $358.61 and a 12 month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.