Mechanics Bank Trust Department Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 841 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,424,543,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,223,148,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,220,171,000. Morgan Stanley bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,072,543,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,796,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $340.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $353.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $280.00 to $336.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, forty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.79.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $300.31 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $88.09 and a one year high of $326.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $772.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The social networking company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.36. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.91 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 13.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total value of $3,258,780.17. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,052,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total transaction of $3,258,780.17. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 91,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,052,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.19, for a total transaction of $657,083.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,867,485.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,179 shares of company stock valued at $12,474,820 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.