Exchange Bank Has $516,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Exchange Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 901 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,212,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 93.1% during the third quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 7,549 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,321,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 7,988 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 84,239 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $48,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.71.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $538.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $505.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total value of $859,886.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,443 shares of company stock valued at $133,105,284. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.