Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Missouri Trust & Investment Co

Missouri Trust & Investment Co decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,786 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $647.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $385.66 and a 12-month high of $652.00. The company has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $601.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $560.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total transaction of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total transaction of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. The trade was a 15.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

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.