First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,291 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,205 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bayban grew its position in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $595.19 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $604.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $625.53. The company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163. 13.53% of the stock is currently 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.