Eastern Bank Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,706 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.8% of Eastern Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $93,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $750.01 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $701.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $646.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,372 shares of company stock worth $105,348,896 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.32.

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.