TrustBank Makes New $901,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

TrustBank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,365 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $593.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $618.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $636.57. 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 twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

About Meta Platforms

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.