Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,879 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.1% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,930. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,269,825.75. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $596.25 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $655.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

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.