Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Increased by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $663.29 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $654.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.27. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total transaction of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,894.45. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price (up previously from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.