Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 1,164 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,121 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,164 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. LifeSteps Financial Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.4% in the second quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 5,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 5,609 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $635.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 13,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,863,715.45. This represents a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. This represents a 0.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 213,510 shares of company stock worth $126,396,359. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $632.68 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $582.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $535.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $324.56 and a 1 year high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

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.