Security National Bank Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Security National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 32.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 895 shares during the period. Security National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $822.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.14, for a total value of $340,258.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,029,308. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,167 shares in the company, valued at $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,038 shares of company stock valued at $25,533,240. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of META opened at $658.79 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $645.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $704.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Meta Platforms 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.