US Bancorp DE Acquires 10,587 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 744,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,587 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $263,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 917,544 shares of company stock worth $453,751,884 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $435.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $5.23 on Thursday, hitting $462.55. 7,897,571 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,485,715. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $484.71 and its 200 day moving average is $423.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.95 and a 52-week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.