Field & Main Bank Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Field & Main Bank grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,676 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.1% of Field & Main Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth 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 increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $397.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total value of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was 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 a total of 1,277,048 shares of company stock valued at $620,679,759 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.4 %

META traded down $10.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $432.62. 21,472,414 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,429,988. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $493.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.85 and a 1 year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.