VeraBank N.A. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

VeraBank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,940 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the quarter. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock valued at $613,168,252. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ META traded up $10.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $451.96. 16,489,057 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.85 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $490.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $408.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

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.