Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 989 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Central Bank & Trust Co. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,130 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.80, for a total value of $22,515,282.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 38,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 567,111 shares of company stock worth $345,453,784. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target (up previously from $680.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $652.98.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $623.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $598.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $558.76. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $382.08 and a 52 week high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.