Independence Bank of Kentucky Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Independence Bank of Kentucky cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,593 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 598 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Madison Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Monterey Private Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. now owns 1,379 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total transaction of $238,507.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.33, for a total transaction of $268,606.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,819,124.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.75, for a total value of $238,507.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,166,093.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 233,512 shares of company stock valued at $113,597,536. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price target (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ META traded down $15.34 on Friday, hitting $504.22. 15,855,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,400,792. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $480.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $453.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.