Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Raised by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,119,937,000 after acquiring an additional 59,766,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,575,209 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $37,902,948,000 after acquiring an additional 682,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $663.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $654.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $706.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $820.22.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $1,590,690.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,962,956.64. This represents a 21.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,359,548. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.