Community Trust & Investment Co. Has $33.07 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,376 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.1% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,672 shares of company stock valued at $55,455,647 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $697.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $610.13 and a 200-day moving average of $621.38.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on META shares. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.88.

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.