First County Bank CT Raises Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First County Bank CT raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Darden Wealth Group Inc boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the third quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 1,064 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 26.8% in the third quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 942 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp now owns 637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,178 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $66,111,000 after buying an additional 11,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $559.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $572.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $524.71.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during 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, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 152,141 shares of company stock worth $83,390,497 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.10.

Meta Platforms Company 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.