Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s 5th Largest Position

Northwest Bank & Trust Co decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,448 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.6% of Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Northwest Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on META. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $635.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $573.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $628.25, for a total value of $324,805.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,882,478.75. The trade was a 4.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 80,161 shares of company stock worth $51,551,150. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.