Intrust Bank NA Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,083 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.7% of Intrust Bank NA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $79,212,000 after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of META stock traded down $10.67 on Monday, hitting $432.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,433,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,396,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.85 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $494.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $405.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $404.00, for a total transaction of $228,664.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,026,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total transaction of $7,751,361.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,277,048 shares of company stock worth $620,679,759 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.18.

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.