Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Sells 740 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after buying an additional 698,884 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after acquiring an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 118,298 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,754,450 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,911,029,000 after purchasing an additional 208,677 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $630.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $328.64 and a fifty-two week high of $638.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $583.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.44.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 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 Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at $29,776,261.56. This trade represents a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total transaction of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,019,340. This represents a 2.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 214,002 shares of company stock valued at $126,740,653. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $635.20.

Meta Platforms 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.