Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Lifted by Enterprise Financial Services Corp

Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,212 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.8% of Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of META stock opened at $647.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $678.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $706.59. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,857,980.20. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 40,923 shares of company stock worth $26,007,416 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $915.00 to $850.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Benchmark cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $860.00 to $808.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $823.93.

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.