Smithfield Trust Co Has $3.16 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,518 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RW Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. DE Burlo Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 146.3% during the third quarter. DE Burlo Group Inc. now owns 36,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $21,009,000 after purchasing an additional 21,800 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 32,563 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 36,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $21,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of META opened at $559.14 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $572.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $524.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.48, for a total value of $8,693,056.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,382,915.36. The trade was a 86.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.97, for a total transaction of $533,922.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,292 shares in the company, valued at $19,641,281.24. The trade was a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,843 shares of company stock valued at $92,083,554 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.