Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Iowa State Bank

Iowa State Bank trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,487 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,851 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.6% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 40,458 shares of company stock worth $25,436,200 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $657.15 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $663.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $707.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $840.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

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.