Bell Bank Buys 1,757 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bell Bank grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.6% of Bell Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Bell Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 53.6% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 86 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,552,673.10. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,512 shares of company stock worth $73,590,232. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

META opened at $695.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.26. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $612.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $621.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $710.00.

About Meta Platforms

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.