Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by First Citizens Financial Corp

First Citizens Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 983 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $334,000. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 26,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $15,406,000 after buying an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of META opened at $643.58 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $577.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $610.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,628 shares of company stock worth $34,826,386 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.05.

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.