OLD National Bancorp IN Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

OLD National Bancorp IN trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,062 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,970 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.0% of OLD National Bancorp IN’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $663.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $654.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $706.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $837.00 to $802.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Benchmark lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $820.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.38, for a total value of $342,218.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,177 shares in the company, valued at $19,238,730.26. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $661.11, for a total value of $341,793.87. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,717 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,335.87. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock worth $26,359,548 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.